APS Board of Education Approves Recommendation to Address School Capacity Challenges

NEWS RELEASE # 35
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 18, 2013

APS Board of Education Approves Recommendation to Address School Capacity Challenges

The APS Board of Education approved a recommendation to address facility challenges that the district is anticipating due to continued enrollment growth and overcrowding at elementary and P-8 schools at the December 17 meeting. Board members JulieMarie Shepherd, Dan Jorgensen, Mary Lewis, Amber Drevon, Eric Nelson and Barbara Yamrick voted in favor of the recommendation, and Board member Cathy Wildman voted against it.

As part of a detailed enrollment vs. capacity study, APS reviewed eight options to address capacity challenges. Options included utilizing more mobile classrooms, changing attendance area boundaries and adopting year-round calendars. The approved recommendation includes a combination of new construction, additional mobile classrooms and strategic boundary adjustments to alleviate overcrowding at several schools. Specific elements are:

• Design and construct a new large P-8 school on the APS Community Campus near 6^th Avenue and Buckley Road.
• Form an attendance area review committee that will develop and recommend boundary adjustments for the new P-8 school and other schools, as needed.
• Transfer approximately $2.2M of the remaining bond savings into the mobile account to address enrollment capacity challenges district-wide through 2016.
• Reallocate approximately $2.4 million in bond funds originally approved for the Mrachek Middle School kitchen/cafeteria addition to design a new middle school building.
• Purchase two 8-classroom mobiles with bathrooms for Mrachek Middle School and relocate the seven 2-classroom mobiles currently at Mrachek to overcrowded schools.

The new P-8 school will serve up to 926 P-8 students and will open in August 2015. The school will be funded with Certificate of Participation (COP) dollars, a lease financing mechanism that APS and several other metro school districts have used in the past to fund school construction.

Prior to the board’s decision, APS shared enrollment growth and capacity information with several stakeholder groups, including parents, staff and district committees. APS also held community meetings to present information and obtain feedback to incorporate into the decision-making process.

To view information about enrollment growth and school capacity, visit suppsvcs.aurorak12.org/capacity.

 

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Interested media may contact APS News Media Specialist 
Paula Hans at 303.326.2755