$10M projects to help overcrowded Phenix City schools almost didn’t happen. Here’s why.
The $10 million to pay for two new school buildings in Phenix City barely was approved Thursday night.
In a 4-3 vote during its monthly meeting, the Phenix City Board of Education accepted superintendent Randy Wilkes’ recommendation to borrow the money to construct:
- A new building to be called the Career and Technical Education Annex on the campus shared by Central High School and the Central Freshman Academy.
- A multipurpose building at Ridgecrest Elementary for physical education and assemblies.
The loan will be packaged with refinancing of previous debt for a $31 million bond deal, payable over 30 years.
Board members Patricia Alexander, Fran Ellis and Will Lawrence voted against the resolution. They didn’t explain their reasoning during the meeting and declined to comment when asked by the Ledger-Enquirer.
The L-E reported in July about the proposal for the CTE Annex. Since then, the scope of the project has expanded, Wilkes told the Ledger-Enquirer, because the school system’s enrollment has grown as well.
So the annex now is envisioned to have 21 classrooms and six labs in its 33,000 square feet when it opens in time for the 2021-22 school year. It will be located behind the softball field’s home plate. Construction is expected to start after the spring 2020 season’s last softball game.
The following subject areas will be taught in the annex:
- Computer science
- Business
- Health science
- Digital media
- Engineering, including a robotics playing field
“We want to meet the needs of our growing population by expanding our offerings to our students so there’s some tie-in to workforce development,” Wilkes said.
A new concession stand, coach’s office and press box for the softball field will be included in the CTE Annex.
Enrollment in Phenix City Schools increased by 250 students this past year, Wilkes said. In the elementary and middle schools, Phenix City averages about 600 students per grade level. The high school facilities were built for 400 students per grade level, he said.
“So we’ve got a surplus of 200 students,” he said, “and they’ve got to go somewhere.”
Central Freshman Academy already has 500 students in a building designed for 400 students, Wilkes said.
The multipurpose room at Ridgecrest will seat 617 for events and have 67 parking spaces. The school’s playground and retention pond will be moved to accommodate the project, Wilkes said.
Ridgecrest’s enrollment increased from approximately 735 to 778 this past year, Wilkes said. Those students don’t have a appropriate indoor space for physical education, he said, and the cafeteria can’t fit large assemblies.
Construction on the nearly 8,000-square-foot multipurpose building at Ridgecrest is expected to start after this school year. It should be completed in the spring of 2021, he said.
The resolution consolidates 2013 and 2014 bonds with the new debt.
“We save almost $1.3 million in doing this,” Wilkes said.
Asked for his reaction to his recommendation being one vote away from not passing, Wilkes told the L-E in an email Friday, “The Phenix City School Board took a great step towards providing for the future needs of both students and the community.”
Wilkes said he doesn’t know why the three board members voted against the resolution. He explained what would have happened if it failed.
“The board would have suffered adverse effects relative to its rating and its ability in the future to secure funds,” he said. “. . . Architect fees, too, (already approved by the board) would have been lost. Learning opportunities via engineering, digital media, sport medicine, EMT (ambulance simulator), and health services would have been disappeared. Most importantly, the safety of every student in an overcrowded school have been jeopardized and student achievement would have likely decreased.”
This story was originally published December 20, 2019 at 12:54 PM.
