Facilities Task Force Hilliard City Schools

Overview

From November 2015 to February 2016, a Facilities Task Force Committee met to conduct a study that would represent a cross section of our staff’s and community’s voice that could be presented to the Board of Education to aid them in assessing and planning for the future facility needs of the Hilliard City School District. The committee was charged with:

  • Review and validation of optimum capacities for elementary, sixth grade, middle school and high school facilities
  • Review of past enrollment and future enrollment projections
  • Review and analyze student enrollment and current housing development
  • Review facility maintenance and sustainability
Hilliard City Schools District Boundaries with Zip Code Areas

Enrollment

Enrollment in the Hilliard City Schools has increased by 1,111 students since the 2006-2007 school year, and is now at 16,115 students this year.

The Facilities Task Force worked with DeJong-Richter, an educational planning firm, to project our enrollment into the future. Using Geographic Information Systems Software, DeJong-Richter’s projections indicate that enrollment will continue to increase to approximately 17,152 students in the 2020-2021 school year.

To put that into perspective, our current general optimum capacities for buildings are 600 students at the elementary level, 650 students at the 6th Grade level, 800 students at the middle school level, and 1,800 students at the high school level. As you can see, this projected increase of over 1,000 students in the next five years would equate to almost two elementary buildings full of students or more than one of our current middle school buildings. Additionally, in analyzing our historical enrollment and future projections, we found this increase in enrollment is occurring at all levels, however, it is not occurring as rapidly at the elementary level. DeJong-Richter indicated the Hilliard City Schools consistently experiences an influx of student enrollment beginning in the middle grade years. Tracy Richter, CEO of DeJong-Richter, indicated this phenomenon illustrates the value of education we provide throughout the Hilliard City Schools. While many districts experience a decrease in enrollment during the middle school and high school years, our trend of increasing enrollment shows that families are migrating into our district from other districts, community and charter schools, and returning to our district from parochial settings.

Growth

Current Student Density Heat Map

Throughout our Facilities Task Force discussions we reviewed and analyzed all the new development construction information that is planned to occur within the Hilliard City Schools. Currently, there are 17 developments that are either new to the district or in the process of adding additional units to their current development plan. There are currently nearly 4,000 new residential units approved, planned, or proposed for development within the Hilliard City School District.

New Housing Development Locations and Type
New Development Breakdown by Unit Type

A great majority of our discussion centered around where these developments were going to occur and how students generated from these developments could potentially impact many of our school buildings.

Student Yield Potential for New Developments

Facility Maintenance

An important component of the Facilities Task Force was providing information related to our current facilities maintenance plan. This included educating both our staff and community groups about the District’s day-to-day maintenance projects as well as projects related to the District’s Permanent Improvement budget ($4.6 million). Both groups were provided with information regarding the 9 major categories that we evaluate potential Permanent Improvement projects (roofing, paving, security, mechanicals, technology, transportation, painting/flooring, educational equipment, and site improvements) as well as what our typical spending plan has been historically (i.e. $1.8 million in technology, $1 million in transportation, etc.). Examples of each of these types of maintenance projects were highlighted to provide both groups with a perspective of the costs and number of projects that occur on a regular basis.

Staff and Community Feedback

Throughout the Facilities Task Force, both the community and staff groups were surveyed to provide the Board of Education and District leaders their perspective on what we should plan for future facility needs. The following questions were asked at both the start of our Task Force and following our sessions related to analyzing enrollment, new development construction, and the facility maintenance needs of our buildings.

Comparison of Community & Staff Responses
Comparison of Community & Staff Responses

Findings

The following question was posed to both groups in our January 13th meeting after the Task Force had the opportunity to analyze our enrollment, the new development construction information, and the facility maintenance needs of our school buildings. Both the staff and community groups overwhelmingly agreed that we as a school system need to address the current needs of our school facilities while also addressing the continued enrollment growth.

Comparison of Community & Staff Responses

When looking at how the district should respond in the short term, the Task Force presented their top three scenarios as findings to the Board:

  • New 7 – 8 Middle School by Bradley High School
  • New 6 – 8 Middle School by Bradley High School
  • A New Elementary & Additions to Other School Facilities

The scenarios presented to the Board of Education provide a solid foundation for a short term facilities foundation for the district. The Task Force feels it is necessary to continue to work with the Board to continue planning into the future for mid and long term facilities needs. They did not see this as the end of the Facilities Task Force, but rather the beginning of a relationship in meeting on an ongoing basis throughout the years to come. As we continue to monitor new growth in our community it is essential that we pay close attention to how this impacts the feeder patterns of our current facilities.

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