PES looks at space needs

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PRINCETON — The Princeton Elementary School Board is looking at future space needs for the Lincoln Elementary building.

On Tuesday, PES Superintendent Tim Smith said he projects an additional 27 students at Lincoln Elementary for the 2009-10 school year, followed by another additional 15 students for the 2010-11 school year. Lincoln Elementary, which houses second and third grades, currently has an enrollment of 235 students.

Space concerns have been an ongoing trend at Lincoln for several years, Smith said on Tuesday. Last year, the district faced a similar space crunch, but it was able to get buy without buying a modular classroom.

At Monday's school board meeting, Smith recommended tabling discussion on the possible purchase of a used modular building to help with next year’s space needs at Lincoln Elementary. More information on that possibility, including costs, will be presented at next month's meeting, he said.

In other building-related discussion at Monday's meeting, board member Terry O’Neil gave a report on the newly-formed Facility Use Committee, saying the committee has agreed it needs to take a hard look at the use of the PES buildings on a long-term basis. The committee continues to discuss what is meant by long-term, whether that is five years, 15 years or more.

The Facility Use Committee has toured the Douglas, Jefferson, Lincoln, Reagan and Logan buildings and discussed the strengths and weaknesses of each building. That information will be compiled for the board. The committee’s next step is to come up with some long-term recommendations for the best use of the buildings, he said.

In other committee reports, board member Judd Lusher gave an overview of the work completed by the Community Engagement Committee. A primary goal of the committee is to develop an ongoing dialogue with the stakeholders of the district, with the first step of determining just who those stakeholders are. 

A possible tool to develop that dialogue would be the use of online or pencil surveys, Lusher said. The committee has discussed what types of questions should be on the survey and also the need to give stakeholders the opportunity to ask their own questions and make their own statements.

Committee members will continue to discuss the best ways to reach their goals. The committee wants to do a careful and thorough job, he said.

“We are not interested in getting this done quickly, as some people may like,” Lusher said. “We want to take our time to make sure what we do is beneficial to everyone, the students, the staff, and all the stakeholders."

Both the facility use and community engagement committees were formed by the school board last fall in an effort to better evaluate long-term needs and goals for the PES District.