KINCAID — Christin Fuller, mayor of Kincaid, attended a Community Information meeting on Saturday morning in the gym of a building that once served as a Crest school building.
She came to see site plans for a proposed $5.95 million bond issue that would build a storm shelter with new classrooms, add a second gymnasium, reconfigure the front entrance with better accessibility, and make other improvements to the 64-year-old building.
“I’m a big supporter of the project,” Fuller said.
Her son is a freshman at Crest; a daughter graduated from the district and is now in college.
Fuller knows how difficult it can be for the district to schedule physical education classes along with sports practices and other events. Having a second, auxiliary gym would be a big help to families, she said.
Along with the gym, she believes students will benefit from additional classrooms, the storm shelter and improved handicapped accessibility.
She was pleased to see the plans and discuss the project with school board members.
“I feel they are using our taxpayer money wisely,” she said. “There were more extravagant plans presented, but they boiled it down to the essentials.”
Indeed, school board president Travis Church and board member Jason Beckmon said a great deal of consideration and input helped them develop the plans. A steering committee spent about five years researching the district’s facilities, and surveyed members of the community to determine wants and needs. The board then worked with consultants to develop a plan that initially cost about twice as much, but they whittled it down to the essentials.
“As the district continues to grow, we saw a need for classroom space, along with another gym, better security and accessibility,” Beckmon said.
Security and accessibility were among the top considerations, Church agreed. His son, a sophomore at Crest High School, uses a wheelchair. He has learned how to navigate the building’s unique configuration: the school’s main lobby has stairs; to access the building someone in a wheelchair must use secondary entrances.
“But for someone coming into our school, to be able to get around is very challenging,” Church said.
Jamie Henderson, a former school board member, served on the steering committee. She has children in middle and high school. Like Fuller, her family’s experience with sports and recess taught them the need for a second gym.
“And definitely, security is always a concern,” she said.
Stephanie Edgerton, Crest Elementary principal, also has children who play high school sports. Because of conflicting time constraints for the gym, their basketball practices often run as late as 9 p.m.
