COLONY — Lunch begins at 10:50 a.m. at Crest schools, with the youngest students filing into the small cafeteria to find a seat and enjoy their meal.
Lunchtime is divided into four sessions. The second group of students are just a little older and, therefore, larger in size. The third group, middle school students, fill the room.
The final lunch session serves high schoolers. The cafeteria isn’t big enough for all of them, so seniors gather in a separate classroom.
Leaders of Crest USD 479 hope a school bond project will help them solve problems like these.
They’ve proposed a plan that would build and renovate the Colony schools for $5.95 million. For the owner of a $100,000 home in the district, it would cost another $184 per year or 50 cents per day in property taxes. The bond would be paid over 20 years.
The first of three community information meetings is scheduled from 8 to 10 a.m. Saturday at the Kincaid gymnasium.
THE CREST school board sent out a community survey last year and developed a plan they feel would best serve students for decades to come, Superintendent Shane Walter said.
Enrollment this year is about 265, around the highest it has been since 2001. Much of the increase is because of families moving into the district, although some students who live outside the boundary have asked for permission to attend Crest schools. Administrators in the past have limited those requests in an attempt to keep class sizes low. Last year, state lawmakers approved open enrollment to make it easier for students to attend out-of-district schools.
However, Walter noted, the current proposal is not aimed at increasing enrollment.
“The goal is not to become a larger school,” he said. “ The goal is to do what we do, but in a better setting. It’s about efficiency. It’s about safety and security. It’s about improved instructional space.”
The proposal would:
• Build a larger cafeteria, with enough space for half the student body to eat together at one time and more room for the cooks to prepare and serve meals.
• Create a new, secure main entry addition that will lead directly to the office, control visitor access and ensure accessibility for those with disabilities.
• Build two classrooms inside a new storm shelter area. The storm shelter has a capacity of about 300, enough space for all students, staff and some community members. It would also be available as a community shelter after school hours.
• Add an auxiliary gymnasium. The second gym would be the same size as the main gym but with less seating. It would allow more space for physical education classes and give students a place to play when weather conditions aren’t conducive for going outdoors. The current gym is frequently busy with P.E. classes and sports practices.
