GARNETT — Looking to improve student education, last week USD 257 board members proposed a $35 million bond issue to construct a new elementary school and make renovations to the high school and middle school buildings. The facilities are starting to fall apart and personnel are running out of space.
Neighboring school district USD 365 in Garnett had a similar story just a few years ago.
The district had two facilities in town; a kindergarten through first-grade building and a second- through sixth- grade building. Krista Hedrick, Garnett Elementary principal, was the principal for both.
“There were many reasons we needed a new building,” Hedrick said. “The deterioration of the building was a top one.”
Garnett Elementary School was built in 1921 and Irving Primary Center was built in 1937. The doors of the new building were opened in 2011 and the project cost the district $11.5 million. With that money the new building was constructed and schools in Greeley, Westphalia and Mount Ida Elementary were renovated.
Because both buildings were so old, faculty ran into many issues.
“There were lots of doors at the other building so safety was a concern,” Hedrick said. “Technology was huge. We couldn’t run wires through the cinder block rooms very easily.”
Utility bills were very high in the old facilities. The buildings ran on an old boiler system. In the new school, utility bills have gone down significantly. Motion-activated lights in every room control when the lights are on and energy efficient windows prevent drafts.
Garnett used Hollis and Miller Architects, Overland Park, the same firm hired to oversee the USD 257 project.
Selling the idea of a new school took some time, Hedrick said.
“Lots of patrons were tied to the school and wanted to retain it,” Hedrick said.
Garnett Elementary School librarian, Cheri Peine, has been with the district for 32 years. Many community members attended school in the two elementary buildings. Peine said some people’s attitudes to the project was “if it was good enough for me then it’s good enough for you.” Hollis and Miller gave tours of the buildings to the community to show people what the issues were and that changed a lot of minds.
The older buildings were not ADA compliant which was a huge issue.
“We told people, ‘This is how much you’ll have to pay to make it ADA compliant’ and it exceeded the cost of a new building,” Hedrick said.
To help preserve memories from the old schools, the county’s historical society saved a lot of items.
