Phenix City superintendent presents options to handle school system's growth

As he started to present his ideas about the new capital plan for Phenix City Schools, Ala., superintendent Randy Wilkes cautioned the school board.

"This is sometimes a little sensitive," he said during the Phenix City Board of Education's work session last month. "So I want us just to talk tonight. I want us to have a good, open discussion. ... We're getting to a point where we've got to make some decisions. We're still growing. We're at capacity in a lot of places, and the option is we either get prepared and do some things with capital projects or we wait until the children arrive and then we have to add some portables."

The PCS average daily enrollment has increased 30 percent during the past 12 years, from 5,277 in the 2004-05 school year to 6,877 in 2016-17.

By 2040, population models show Russell County's population growth is projected to range from 33 percent to 53 percent, and Lee County's population growth is projected to range from 50 percent to 56 percent, Wilkes said.

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And only two of the 11 PCS schools, Lakewood and Meadowlane elementary schools, have enough room to add a significant number of students now, according to the superintendent's analysis.

Wilkes dug into the data deeper and calculated how many additional students PCS can expect to enroll. Assuming 20 percent of the total population is school age and subtracting the current percentage of homeschooled students and those attending private schools, he figures the growth in Russell and Lee counties will produce an additional 300 students for PCS every five years. With an average of 20 students per class, that would require 15 new classrooms.

PCS could apply for a Qualified School Construction Bond, periodically let by the state. The last QSCB was let in 2007, Wilkes said, "and they're typically almost interest free."

PCS also could issue a Qualified Zone Academy Bond, created by the U.S. Congress in 1997 to help school districts finance renovation and repair projects. When he was superintendent in Crenshaw County, the district "actually made 25 cents on every dollar that we borrowed" through the QZAB, Wilkes said.

"We have been told that at the statehouse next year, they will consider a bond issue," Wilkes said. "In my personal opinion, they need to do so before the rates get any higher. You need to secure what bonds you can while the rates are low. ... So, if you sit on the sideline, in my opinion, you've got to be willing to sit there 10 years. I've shown you the numbers. That's a lot of portables in 10 years."

Another consideration, Wilkes noted, is that board policy permits charging families a fee for sending their children to PCS from outside the district. "That's a couple hundred kids in our school system," Wilkes said. "So I want you to keep that in the back of your mind. I'm not suggesting anything, but it's out there."

Westview, with 411 students, already was full but gained another teaching unit this school year, which must occupy the reading interventionist's classroom, Wilkes said.

"So they could really use three or four more classrooms right now," he said.

Three years ago, just before the board hired Wilkes from Crenshaw County in June 2014, plans were drawn and bids were received to add a cafetorium at Westview, move the office to the current cafeteria and create space for two additional classrooms. The lowest bid was $2.5 million, Wilkes said, but the project didn't go forward.

The following PCS schools are at capacity and don't have space available to add any teaching units, Wilkes said: Phenix City and Sherwood elementary schools, Lakewood Primary School and Central Freshman Academy.

Near capacity are Central High School, Phenix City Intermediate School, Ridgecrest Elementary School and South Girard School, Wilkes said.

Under capacity are Lakewood and Meadowlane elementary schools. Lakewood has space for "four or five" more classes, and Meadowlane has space for "two or three" more classes, Wilkes said.

The top five projects in the school system's current capital plan are complete: Central Freshman Academy, Dyer Family STEM Center at Phenix City Intermediate School, expansion facility at Central High School and the new roofs on Ridgecrest and Westview elementary schools.

The renovation at South Girard School is scheduled to be finished this fall.

So the four projects remaining in the current capital plan are unspecified classroom additions, a new transportation facility expected to be completed next summer, an unscheduled window retrofit at PCIS and an unscheduled science, technology, engineering and math facility at Central.

"This is where it gets a little sensitive" Wilkes said.

The superintendent asked the board to consider various options, such as rezoning some or all school attendance zones.

"I'm concerned if an elementary school has 1,000 little bodies in it," he said. "That's a lot of little bodies."

Wilkes said 750 is the maximum enrollment for an elementary school before "you leave that neighborhood feel," and Ridgecrest and Phenix City elementary schools already are there, he added.

Sherwood, with 575 students is full and landlocked, Wilkes said. "That school, in my opinion, looks a little better at 525 or so," he added.

Meadowlane has space available, but it's not cost effective with enrollment of less than 200 students, Wilkes said. "Per student, we probably spend more there than anywhere else," he said.

Westview has available property at the baseball field, Wilkes said. Lakewood Elementary has the most available property, 28 acres. "The board owns everything to the east of Explorer Drive," he said.

Wilkes encouraged the board to build up a "land bank, so if we ever get to a point where we feel good about a month in reserve, it might behoove us to reach out there and buy 50, 60, 70 acres as we see it become available."

As magnet schools, Wilkes reminded the board, Lakewood Elementary and Lakewood Primary can admit students from anywhere in the district.

Immediate needs for classrooms in growth areas of the city, Wilkes said, are at Westview, Phenix City and Sherwood elementary schools and Lakewood Primary School.

In five years, Wilkes said, Central Freshman Academy and Central High, will needs more classrooms. CFA's capacity is about 525 students, he said, and "they'll be there in 2020. So if every class thereafter is getting a little bit larger, ... somebody's got to think 10 years and somebody's got to think 20 years, because Central High School in 20 years will be almost 50 years old, and we can't work ourselves into a situation where there can't be a new high school because it's decades away.

"So there's a lot I'm laying out there tonight."

Wilkes stressed, "We're certainly not making any plans or decisions tonight, but I just want you to know where my thoughts are."

Option 1: Disperse the nine Office of School Readiness pre-kindergarten classes at the Head Start facility to schools throughout the system.

"Based on available space, we could move three to Meadowlane; we could move two to Westview; we could move two to Ridgecrest; we could two move two over to LPS or LES," Wilkes said.

One of the benefits is that it wouldn't involved any rezoning, Wilkes said, while gaining nine K-5 classrooms, but it would require additions at Lakewood.

"There is some available space there," Wilkes said, "but we know parking and traffic is terrible at Lakewood."

The athletic fields at Lakewood could be moved down the hill to make room for an additional classroom wing, Wilkes said.

He estimated this option would cost $1.2 million "and take care of your elementary needs for the next three or four years."

Option 2: Wilkes calls this the "minimal rezoning plan."

It would create an early learning center at Meadowlane by combining the nine OSR pre-K classes at Head Start with the two Title I pre-K classes (one at Ridgecrest, the other at Sherwood).

If PCS secured a Head Start grant, Wilkes said, an early learning center at Meadowlane could accommodate at least 16 pre-K classes. The 200 students at Meadowlane would be rezoned to one of two schools:

  • 150 to Westview, producing an enrollment of 562 and resulting in additional state funding for more faculty positions but still leaving four classrooms unoccupied.
  • 50 to Ridgecrest, producing an enrollment of 793 and resulting in additional state funding for more faculty positions.

This option also makes one classroom available at Ridgecrest and one classroom available at Sherwood.

If the Alabama Legislature passes the bond issue, PCS could secure a loan of $6.5 million, with annual payments of $372,000 if the interest rate is 4 percent, Wilkes figured. That money could pay for, he said, 4-6 additional classrooms at Lakewood ($1.2 million), a multipurpose facility at Ridgecrest ($1.2 million), a new cafeteria at Westview while converting the existing cafeteria to a multipurpose facility ($2.5 million) and six additional classrooms and expanded office space at CFA ($1.6 million).

"Remember, we need about 15 new classrooms every five years," Wilkes said. "This gives us 14."

Under this scenario, some Phenix City Elementary School students still might have to be rezoned to Westview or transferred to the Lakewood magnet schools to alleviate overcrowding if the PCES enrollment goes beyond 750-800, Wilkes said.

Option 3: Rezone all the elementary schools and create a new K-5 school in the Fort Mitchell area for an estimated $12 million.

This option, however, is the most expensive and doesn't offer a solution for the high schools, Wilkes said.

Option 4: Rezone only Westview and Phenix City Elementary and add 15 classrooms and a cafetorium at Meadowlane to accommodate more than 500 students for an estimated $5.2 million.

Meadowlane is "construction site-friendly," Wilkes said, and would receive rezoned students from Westview and Phenix City Elementary while no other schools would be affected.

Under this scenario, Lakewood Primary School still would need to be expanded by 4-6 classrooms, costing an estimated $1.2 million, Wilkes said.

Wilkes acknowledged to the board, "Now, that's a lot to give you in one night, but I want feedback as to what you think. We deal with it as it comes up or we're proactive and want to have a plan. ... If we don't have a plan, when spring rolls around, we won't be able to get a plan together quick enough to get it to the state department (of education) to get approval if it (the bond) is let."

Board members asked a few clarifying questions but didn't express their preference for any option.

"I think the plan is good," said board president Paul Stamp. "We're graduating more kids every year, so therefore you get more coming in. ... If we don't have enough room, we'll just cram kids in classrooms, and I think that's going to hurt our academics."

Wilkes added another option: "Put a moratorium on kids coming in. I don't want to do that, but we could do that."

The superintendent said he would like the board to discuss this issue at its next work session, Aug. 22 at 6 p.m.

"When we come back on the 22nd, I am not anticipating pinning anybody down with any decisions," Wilkes told the Ledger-Enquirer in an interview. "I am expecting to gather some feedback."

Wilkes said he won't make a recommendation for a specific option. "It will be a conglomeration," he said.

In retrospect, Wilkes said, the words "scenarios" and "options" he used in his presentation to the board might have been too strong.

"Where we'll be in five years will probably be some combination of those things," he said. "Elements from each one of those scenarios will probably be in the plan."

In a follow-up email to the Ledger-Enquirer, Wilkes emphasized, "Though the conversation has begun, these are merely talking points. Numbers and details are broad and not absolute, and stakeholder input will be gathered before proceeding."

The Ledger-Enquirer asked Wilkes to further explain his concern about growth in the wake of the PCS average daily enrollment actually decreasing from 6,996 in 2013-14 to 6,877 in 2016-17. Despite the overall dip, the enrollment in the elementary grades (K-5) continued to increase during the past five years, from 3,482 to 3,732, Wilkes said.

Although the official number won't be determined until after Labor Day, the PCS enrollment as of Tuesday increased by 174 students compared to the same day last year, Wilkes said.

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