Winchester School Board discusses high school renovations
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
By JESSICA BROWN
The Winchester School Board convened for its first regular meeting of the 2024-2025 School Year on Tuesday, Aug. 13. Members discussed the success of school registration taking place exclusively online this year.
“We had a snag right at first because of an issue with the online pay portal, but it was fixed and went smoothly after that,” Superintendent Kevin Blankenship said.
Enrollment numbers held steady this year as well with 349 students enrolled in grades Kindergarten through 8th grade.
The Board then addressed the next steps to be taken in the ongoing plans to improve Winchester High School. Blankenship confirmed that since survey results showed underwhelming community support for constructing a new building, the Board would continue forward with plans for renovating instead.
“We need to start the process of prioritizing which renovations need to be made,” he said, adding that many issues were found when professionals assessed the building’s problems last spring. Some include asbestos removal, replacing the current wheelchair lift or installing an elevator.
“We want to better meet the needs of the ADA requirements,” Blankeship said.
Other immediate concerns were repairing HVAC issues, as well as renovations to bathroom and gym locker rooms.
“The Board also talked about potentially replacing windows, doors and those things within the next 10 years” he said. “We have a long list and it just comes down to prioritizing what we want to do.”
Some expressed concerns for how soon the renovation projects would begin, to which Blankenship responded that to have certain projects done by May or June of 2025, the process of selecting the right people for the job could take up to two months.
“It comes down to if we want to use a performance contractor, one we already have a relationship with, or a different company,” he said.
In general, plans for renovations and selecting contractors would need to be done by December of this year.
Blankenship told the Board that he will narrow down three options to take in moving closer to renovations, including working with the performance contractor, a third party construction company or the district’s current architectural company Graham and Hyde. He said he plans to have that information available to them at the September Board meeting.
The issue of how to pay for the projects was also discussed.
“When we look at doing some of these projects, we can use some of the money from the Health and Life Safety Fund which has a $300,000 balance and then we can use some of the nearly $500,00 in the Capital Projects Fund as well,” Blankenship said. “So that gives us about $800,000 if we choose to do that.”
Utilizing these resources would not require a referendum.
Ultimately, it’s the Board’s intention to work in congruence with the community about how best to update the high school and how best to finance it. “The Board represents the community and wants to hear from them,” Blankenship said.
The hearing about which option the district will choose to continue renovations will precede the next School Board meeting on Sept. 10 at 6:30 pm in the Winchester Elementary School.
