Facility meeting begins to answer big questions

 RED OAK — Upwards of 100 people showed up for the first in a series of community meetings to discuss the future of the Red Oak Community School District facilities. 

“I was very pleased with it,” School Board President Lee Fellers said. “I think it was very positive and people seemed to leave feeling good like some of their questions were being answered.”

Led by the Tiger Vision facilitating team, the session began with a presentation by BLDD architect Randy West who has been working with the district for more than a year, analyzing the buildings and outlining potential renovation plans.   

West provided the audience with an insight into the history of each of the district buildings and an overview of the assessment process.

Each building has been analyzed on both physical and educational adequacy needs, including infrastructure, energy efficiency, technology, safety/security, mechanical features and educational environment. 

The middle school, which was built in 1903 and expanded in 1952, and the Webster building, which was built in 1952, ranked the lowest, meaning in need of the most work. All the buildings, according to West though, could use improvements. 

The purpose of Thursday’s engagement session, West said, was to compile community input to go into a master plan for improvements and additions down the road.

“We don’t want to talk about money; we don’t want to answer questions about money,” he said. “Right now we are looking down from 30,000 feet, and thinking about all the things we could do. There will be plenty of time to talk finances later.” 

West also highlighted some of the key factors for educational success in the 21st century. Lectures, he said, are no longer the sole form of teaching. Rather, more of an emphasis should be placed on creative collaboration, communication and critical thinking; the new trend in school buildings, according to West, is to provide more open space that is flexible for various types of learning. 

Following West’s presentation, the audience was asked to complete two handouts in small groups. 

“We didn’t want this to be a meeting where you just sit there and try to absorb two hours worth of information,” Fellers said. “It’s key to get people involved and have them converse at the tables about the concerns and questions they have.”

The first handout was looking for the major questions of the public, which will then be addressed at future community engagement sessions.

Some of the questions were regarding enrollment projections throughout the next several years, a timeline of possible renovations/construction, benefits of renovating existing buildings versus building new and alternative energy options. 

Next, the audience was asked to rank a list of 21st century school attributes at high, medium or low priority. 

Attributes included supporting student-centered learning, becoming a community hub, allowing for flexibility of learning spaces and enhancing technology access. 

“I think we should work on becoming more progressive,” community member Ken Blackman said. “What’s best for our students is also best for our community. The school is something we take pride in, so making it better in any way is a priority.” 

Each small group was then asked to list its top three priorities from the list of 12 options. Overwhelmingly, “allows for hands on, experiential, learning by doing (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM))” received the most community support. 

The next community engagement session will be April 24 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the high school; childcare is available at Inman Primary. There will be six sessions total; the last four are not yet scheduled. 

Fellers said each meeting will have a theme for discussion and likely be conducted in the same format, with an informative presentation then small group work.

“At some point there will probably be a need for a more question and answer style meeting, especially when we start talking about finances, but we aren’t there yet,” Fellers said. “We didn’t want to be too presumptuous on what the community wanted to know. It’s important for the community to tell us what’s important to them because their questions are important.” 

Information and notes from each session will be posted online; follow the Tiger Vision link on the district’s homepage. 

For more information on the process, email info@rotigervision.org.