We have received some questions from the community on why the new elementary school is proposed for Van Horne, not Atkins.
District Response:
- The Board's goal is to serve all of our students - district-wide. The plan for facility improvements addresses our facility needs district-wide.
- ~300 students live on the west side of our campus. A new more centrally located elementary would serve our entire school district.
- The entire school district has seen steady but slow growth over the past 5 years. We are growing at 1-2% most years. A few years back, we experienced some decline in enrollment (e.g. 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018). However, we anticipate 1-2% growth over the next 10 years, but this hinges on many variables that are out of our control.
- The growth occurring in our district is coming from a variety of places.
- Atkins as a community is experiencing some growth. However, a 1-2% growth does not equate to needing a significant number of additional classrooms at Atkins Elementary. It takes numerous years to need multiple additional classrooms across the district, and many other variables such as planned developments, city infrastructure, and the level at which the current elementary could handle many more classrooms before another type of facility might be needed. The current plan is to add a new cafeteria and remodel spaces for classrooms. The analysis for the number of classrooms needed reflects our 1-2% growth as well as the anticipated # of students from future new developments
- Many factors come into play when considering where to build a school.
- The School Board is working on a long-range plan for 10-15 years out and will build in plans for more improvements.
We sat down with K-12 education architect and planner Tandi Brannaman of Shive-Hattery Architects and Engineers to share more about what growth looks like in Benton Community School District.
- What information do we examine when we look at school district growth?
- Shive-Hattery examines factors including: overall enrollment over the past 5 – 10 years, growth or decline in communities within the school district’s boundaries, available land for development (location, proximity to utilities, environmental considerations such as floodplains, developer interest and funding availability, timing of land development vs. project timing, etc.), district demographics, real estate trends, etc.
- The District has buildings within multiple communities within the district, so growth must be examined across all district communities
- What did Shive-Hattery and the Benton Facilities Study Advisory Committee see for trends in growth in the school district?
- Steady but slow growth over the past 10-15 years – about 1-2% district-wide growth per year
- For example, Atkins is experiencing growth (including recent residential development), but still a slow growth. Infrastructure capacity may also slow this growth, which is typical for any growing community as it balances residential and infrastructure growth.
- How does this compare to neighboring districts experiencing rapid growth?
- Some of our Corridor school districts experiencing exponential district-wide growth share boundaries touching on all sides (for example, North Liberty or Tiffin). These can average from 6-12% district-wide growth per year. One community may accumulate more than 200 students over 5 years, if residential growth is rapid. Much of this growth is driven by new families attracted to the area.
- Within Benton County, some new homes within our community may be filled by families already attending our district through open enrollment. This grade distribution is typically even, as well.
- What do the improvements at Atkins Elementary entail?
- Improvements at Atkins Elementary have been carefully determined to appropriately serve students at the current growth rate, while not overbuilding the school (straining support spaces or resulting in underutilized or unoccupied spaces).
- Spaces which are currently inadequately sized include the cafeteria, kitchen, and classrooms.
- Long term, the District is examining additional growth challenges across the District over the next 10 years.