A vital part of the Warsaw Community Schools (WCS) strategic planning process has been the development of a long-term facility plan. This planning ensures proper maintenance, safety and fiscal responsibility of our local educational facilities. This planning benefits our students through proper educational and learning environments, our community patrons with public facilities that increase economic development through industry recruitment and our taxpayers through forward planning. WCS has 13 school campuses along with multiple service and auxiliary buildings. The routine maintenance and forward planning is continuous, where WCS will always have projects in motion.
WCS is extremely thankful to the community for allowing the new construction of Lincoln Elementary and the renovations of Washington Elementary and Edgewood Middle School. Progression at Lincoln is moving along quickly. Exterior brick and windows are being placed while wiring and wall framing is taking place on the interior. The new Lincoln has a projected completion at the start of 2017. Before students move into the building, we are committed to having the facility being 100% completed. This includes all desks, technology, security and instructional materials. Upon movement, the demolition of the old Lincoln facility will commence. Playgrounds, parking and parent pick-up drives will be constructed at that location during the summer of 2017.
Edgewood Middle School is in the final phases of renovation. This final phase included the final 1/4th of classroom renovations, health and fitness areas, locker installation, furniture and finishing work. Major renovation work is to be completed in December of 2016. Major work and upgrades have taken place to roofing, boilers, chillers, ductwork and wiring infrastructure.
Washington Elementary renovation and expansions also included major updates to roofing, boilers, chillers, ductwork and wiring infrastructure. A new addition was opened for use in the 2016-2017 school year that included the STEM lab, new classrooms, office space and safety upgrades. While this area is in use, final modifications and construction will take place during the summer of 2017 while students are not in the building. Renovation of the existing portion of the school has received multiple updates including updated classrooms along with the cafeteria and kitchen expansion. Over the next couple months, painting, landscaping, new classroom furniture and finishing work will continue.
Thanks in part to the DEKKO foundation, solar panels are being installed at Washington, Lincoln and Edgewood as a part of the building projects. These solar panels will generate power for the new sections of the buildings. The solar panel will also serve as a learning tool for our students. Investigation is also taking place to evaluate the cost savings and environmental benefits of solar panels at all WCS locations. Increased technology in the solar arena has made power solar a viable option of alternative energy.
In the winter of 2016, the WCS bus garage had a devastating fire. Since that time, the WCS bus garage has been located in a temporary location awaiting conclusions from the insurance adjusters. Public bids were advertised and multiple companies vying for the construction contract followed state protocols of the bidding process. At the October school board meeting, local company Robinson Construction was awarded the construction bid as the low bidder. Steel has been ordered and construction will commence once it arrives. The new structure will be built on the old bus garage site and completion is expected to be late spring or early summer.
Warsaw Community High School (WCHS) is now 26 years old and was originally built for 1600 students. The current population is just under 2300 students daily. Many of the early parts of the school are in need of renovation, expansion or refurbishment. A major part of our facility planning has included WCHS and the routine scheduled needs of priority. WCHS has a metal roof that was in dire need of re-coating and sealing to ensure longevity. This project started in the late spring and is currently nearing completion before the winter months. Along with the power washing, recoating and sealing, new snow guards are being attached. WCHS internal boilers were also in need of replacement. During the summer of 2016, these boilers were replaced and installed ready for the winter months.
At the October 2016 board meeting, the board approved moving forward with a tax-neutral bond refinancing process, which will allow continued exploration and consideration of the cafeteria projects at no additional costs to taxpayers. If projects are approved at a later board meeting, these projects could take place during the summer of 2017. Priority was identified at the Harrison, Eisenhower and WCHS cafeterias. These expansions would accommodate the current and future needs for student seating. Funding of these projects could take place through the refinancing of 2008 construction bonds. Due to low interest rates, WCS can refinance these bonds without extending payments and with no expected change in the local tax rate. Plans are still in the conceptual and estimation phases prior to any bidding or solidification of the projects. The board motion was to continue forward with the bond refinancing process and exploration and consideration of the cafeteria projects.
WCS looks forward to sharing continued facility updates. For more information, please contact Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert or Chief Financial Officer Brandon Penrod at 574-371-5098.
