Board Weighing Options for New School Construction

August 25, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

Although the Board of Education has not yet reached a consensus on a specific school building construction plan to recommend to the county commission it may be getting closer.

During an informal workshop last Tuesday night, the School Board and Director of Schools Patrick Cripps focused primarily on two options:

*Building a new pre-k to 5^th grade elementary school and adding on to Northside Elementary to make it a pre-K to 5^th grade school, or

*Building two new pre-k to 8^th grade elementary schools and adding on to Northside Elementary to make it a pre-K to 8^th grade school.

Director Cripps asked each member of the Board to submit to him written pros and cons of each option for review at another meeting. The board could settle on either option, submit both proposals, or come up with another alternative for the county commission to consider.

“We are trying to get something before the next school board meeting as far as the plans so we can further our discussions,” said Director Cripps.

Last fall Upland Design Group, the board’s architect, presented six options for consideration but narrowed them down to three by April at the Board’s request.

According to Cripps the last available numbers from April showed estimated costs for the pre-k to 8 building project would run in excess of $30 million as opposed to $18 million for the pre-k to 5^th grade plan. Neither option includes the cost of land purchase. Cripps said he has contacted Upland Design  to  provide updated construction cost estimates

“I have contacted the Upland Architectural group to talk to us about new numbers. They say the numbers (costs estimates) are changing constantly because of the (construction) demand that is going on (in the market). They (architects) are going to refigure the costs of building pre-k to 8 and pre-k  to 5  schools and send me some updated numbers ,” said Director Cripps.

Either of these two options would require zoning meaning students would have to attend the elementary school within the zone where they reside.

“We would have to zone under these scenarios because when you have multiple schools with the same grade levels you can’t flood one school with all the students and the other with hardly any students in it so we would have to set boundaries in the county at that point,” Director Cripps said.

Whichever construction plan is presented , the county commission would have to approve it and authorize funding to pay for it over a period of years through a note or bond issue. After the first project is completed and paid for, Director Cripps said the school board wants a plan in place, working with the county commission, to move toward building a new high school.

“We see that we need three schools. The elementary and high school are the oldest buildings in the county and the middle school has some age on it. You can’t just look at this (first) building phase and say we’re done for 20-30 years. We must have in place what our next step is going to be. I think it is important that we have a plan in place. The next phase for other buildings to be built,” he said.

Director Cripps and members of the School Board spent part of the day Saturday traveling about the county looking for property that would potentially make suitable elementary and high school building sites.

August 25, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

Members of the “Off the Beaten Path Studio Tour” held their annual “Art for Kids Day” Saturday at the DeKalb Farmers Market in support of the School System’s Back Pack Program to help feed hungry children.

Claudia Lee, local artisan, said all the artwork for this annual event is donated and all the money raised from sales goes to the Back Pack Program.

IMG_0622 from dwayne page on Vimeo.

“One hundred percent of the money from the sales goes to help fund the Back Pack program which provides supplemental food for kids in DeKalb County who are not getting fed regularly at home. We are one of the organizations that does fund raising for this program,” added Lee.

“The art work is donated by area artists as well as artists from the Appalachian Center for Crafts, and Off the Beaten Path Studio Tour. We do it once a year.  It is almost always in August. We collect art work all year long and people look forward to it. They get some great deals. The prices are amazing,” said Lee.

According to Elise Driver of the Coordinated School Health Program, About 6% of the DeKalb County School student population goes hungry on a regular basis with meals provided at schools being their main source of food. “Coordinated School Health began sending bags of food home to children ten years ago. We began with long weekends and holidays and now we feed them every week during the school year. Funding is not always consistent and we are continuously seeking donations of food and or money to maintain our program, to improve the nutritional value of the food products given to students, and to promote healthy eating habits,” said Driver.

To make a donation, contact Driver at the Board of Education Central Office known as the Ernest Ray Education Center at 615-597-4084.

Meanwhile, the 19^th annual “Off the Beaten Path Studio Tour” is scheduled for October 26-28.

Every fall, on the last full weekend in October, when the color is breathtaking and there is a certain crispness in the air, the artists of Off the Beaten Path Studio Tour in DeKalb and Cannon Counties open their studios for a free three day open studio event. Celebrating its 19th year, the tour has grown to include 15 stops with 30 participating artists.  Artists will be demonstrating their craft mediums and offering handcrafted shopping opportunities at every stop on the tour. This is a perfect family outing or weekend getaway.

To learn more visit

http://offthebeatenpathtour.com/

August 25, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

WJLE FM 101.7 has returned to the air!

For the last several days WJLE FM has been off the air due to lightning which caused a catastrophic failure of our FM transmitter. Engineers have worked daily on the problem and for now the FM is transmitting again but with reduced power meaning that our signal is reaching only a portion of the WJLE FM service area.

WJLE is in the process of acquiring a new FM transmitter but it will be several days before it arrives and is installed. Until then, WJLE FM will be operating but at reduced power.

In addition to WJLE FM 101.7, you may continue to listen to LIVE programming on WJLE AM 1480 and LIVE streaming at www.wjle.com.

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