The facts on why a new or renovated Junction City High School is needed, the costs, and numerous other questions were unveiled for a JCHS steering committee Thursday evening at the senior high.
There were varying opinions and questions posed by committee members during a brief discussion time.
City Commissioner Pat Landes said if you want to attract people here you should build a world class high school. “We have an opportunity to make a major upgrade, not only to the facility but to our community itself to market our community. If we can have a world class high school that’s state of the art that will attract more people coming to Fort Riley or coming to our area, make them want to live here. ” Landes called that a huge selling point for the community.
City Commissioner Mick McCallister noted the local population trend, and will it match the school being considered. ” Well I think it’s a consideration that needs to be part of the planning process. If you’re talking about educating kids for jobs 10 years, 20 years from now you need to match that with what our community’s going to look like in 10 to 20 years. We need to make sure that we do the due diligence and we’re thinking forward on that.” McCallister is unsure at this point if a new high school needs to be looked at. He noted the initial steering committee was a good step with good information and numbers. “I’m not sure whether we need a new school yet, but over the course of the next seven meetings I think most everybody will be educated as to whether we need one or we whether we need to renovate. This is a very good start.”
Potential Army downsizing, accompanying possible reduction in the Fort Riley troop population, and the impact in the student population at JCHS were concerns mentioned.
The committee received information estimating the cost of a new high school in the $85 million to $95 million range, depending on whether a school would be built to accommodate 10th through 12th grade students or 9th through 12th grade students.
Other issues such as building on the current site or finding a new location, major infrastructure challenges in the current building, use of heavily impacted military aid and state aid to pay for all or most of a new facility, and the need to meet the academy course structure in place at Junction City High School were all addressed during a review by USD 475 administrators.
The committee will have their next meeting on October 27th. They will be reviewing the program and concepts, and will take tours of the current building during that session. The committee has meetings scheduled through January 9th, when they’re expected to make a recommendation to the Board of Education.