At their Facilities Committee Meeting on May 8, 2022, the board voted unanimously to construct a new K-5 elementary center on the property at Neil Armstrong Middle School.  This means we will eventually close NAMS and all five elementary buildings.  We are already renovating Independence Middle School and will move 6th grade back to IMS.  

Advantages

• Renovation costs associated with updating the five elementary schools and NAMS would be eliminated.
• Significant staffing costs for the District will be reduced due to the consolidation into one K-5 center
• The New K-5 Elementary Center would better establish equity among students and level loading in class sizes.
• Future full-time Kindergarten could be designed into the plans for the building.
• No other building additions would be required at NAMS or IMS to support the new grade configurations.
• Streamlined scheduling for music department
• Combined resources for more and higher-quality curricular offerings 
• Common planning time for grade level teachers; increased opportunities for sharing expertise 
• Shared staffing to increase related services (counseling, OT, PT)
• Students transition to 3 different buildings in their K-12 experience 
• Opportunities for academic acceleration up to grade 5 
• Sharing of robotics and digital fabrication tools in makerspaces/media centers
• Libraries would have vast Lexile offerings 
• Curricular consistency & continuity

Disadvantages:

• The five elementary school buildings currently provide recreational space for after-hours activities through the use of the playfields, gymnasiums, and multi-purpose rooms that would be eliminated if buildings are closed and sold.
• A new District-Wide K-5 Elementary Center will have a large initial cost. 
• Loss of instructional time due to increased transition time 
• Less personal atmosphere
• Decreased individual attention for students 
• Sheer size and volume of materials needed in shared spaces (libraries, labs, etc.) in order to accommodate a broad range of students (step stools, heights of water fountains, etc) 
• Priority of “middle shelf”/high traffic eye space for shared centers/locations

Summary of Financial Impact:

• Total Construction Cost:                                       $95,000,000
• Annual Financing Cost (total debt service):      $6,000,000
• Conceptual Cost Savings:                                      $3,250,000 to $3,500,000 annually
• Net Costs to Operating Budget:                           $2,500,000 to $3,000,000 additional