The time has come to discuss the future high school setting
School officials and Board of Trustees members are looking to update the district’s strategic plan – namely, the number of high schools – but stress this is a community decision.
“It will be up to all of you whether we continue with one high (school) or we have two,” Supt. Libbie Conner said at a community forum on April 12. “This is a big decision for this community because when a community is as tight-knit as Noblesville and has been for many decades, has always had one high school and now we’re thinking about possibly two high schools, it’s an academic issue; it’s an emotional issue and it also is a financial issue.”
In fall 1996, Noblesville High School opened its location at 18111 Cumberland Rd. Graduating class sizes have increased yearly since that time, and now the community has reached a crossroad – does the community want to have the high school scenario of Carmel and Hamilton Southeastern school districts?
“One high school or two has been an issue in this community for a few years,” Connor said.
NHS reached capacity in 2007, so the former intermediate school was transformed into the Freshman Campus. If enrollment remains the same, the class of 2020 will consist of almost 800 students – NHS has approximately 600 seniors this year. With no enrollment increase, school officials say the high school will again be at capacity in 2016.
“The last two years we have continued to increase at least 200 students a year,” Conner said, adding the district’s enrollment is 9,471 students and is projected to increase to 10,802 by 2017. “As each class advances, each class coming in is bigger and the graduation class is smaller.”
Share your thoughts
• Noblesville Schools will host its third and final forum at 7 p.m. today at Noblesville Intermediate School, 19900 Hague Rd. (The sign along the road says Noblesville West Middle School). Supt. Libbie Conner will present the strategic plan update and there will be a question-and-answer session at the end of the presentation.
• Residents can take part in an online survey designed to gauge the opinion of the Noblesville community. You can access the survey at www.surveymonkey.com/s/highschoolquestion. The survey will close on Monday. Paper surveys will also be available at each school and at the Central Administration Office, 1775 Field Dr. Paper surveys must be returned by Monday in order to be counted.
• Share your opinions by writing at letter to the editor. Letters may be e-mailed to [email protected] or mailed to Current in Noblesville, 30 S. Range Line Rd., Carmel, IN 46032.
As school officials create the strategic plan for the future, they are asking residents for input into the future scenario of the district – one large high school, two high schools or doing neither and adding portables to the main campus.
“Whatever the community wants, we will make it work and make it the best,” Conner said.
Depending on the community feedback, Conner said the district could look at a referendum in May 2013. If the one high school scenario is selected, construction would begin that fall and be completed by fall 2014. If the district builds a second high school, that construction would open in 2016 or 2017.
Regardless of the options, NHS administrators would like to see one building comprise all four grade levels.
“They (administrators) want their freshmen back. They want all four grades in the same building. Besides that, freshmen want to be at the high school,” Conner said.
The results of the survey and community input are expected to be discussed at the May 15 school board meeting.
Hamilton Southeastern High School
Option 1 – Two high schools
Build a new high school – $100 million
Purchase property for high school – $4 million to $5 million
Retrofit Freshman Campus as east middle school – $15 million
Estimated total referendum – $120 million
Annual operating and maintenance costs – $1.6 million
Annual staffing costs – $1.4 million
What would two high schools look like?
A facility for grades nine through 12 with a duplicated, equitable program to the existing high school and a capacity of 1,600 to 1,800 students with room to increase. The second high school would also have a full array of athletic facilities and elective opportunities as enrollment and interest can support. Similar to Fishers High School, the second high school would begin with just freshmen and maybe sophomores in fall 2016, with occupation of all grades by 2019.
Carmel High School
Option 2 – One high school
Build 63,000- to 75,000-square-foot addition at NHS – $10 to $12 million
Retrofit Freshman Campus as east middle school – $15 million
Estimated total referendum – $27 to $29 million
Annual operating and maintenance costs for addition – $300,000
What would one high school look like?
An expanded campus with additional flexible classroom space to accommodate up to 3,200 students. However, school officials said rarely would 3,200 students ever be present at once because of more nontraditional courses and opportunities. The school would house grades nine through 12, so freshmen would return to the main campus to take advantage of all elective course offerings. NHS Principal Jeff Bryant said the school would offer a freshman “center” instead of a separate campus. Conner said the one high school scenario would allow the district to offer expanded elective offerings as enrollment and interest support.
Option 3 – Things remain as they are
(Keeps the NHS main and freshmen campuses)
Add portable classrooms by 2016 and beyond – $40,000 per unit
Remodel east middle school (referendum required) – $17 million
Financial Impact
“The timing with this (financially) is not good,” said Conner. “We have needs, but the timing is not there. It’s important to have options that would have minimal impact.”
Director of Financial Services Terry Rich said the district’s debt payment schedule begins to decrease in 2018. White River Elementary School will be paid off in 2019 (an average cost of $1.2 million a year), but the big impact comes in 2021 as NHS’s $6.2-million annual debt payment ends.
“Significant debt declines in 2021, but our needs in the next three to four years are to solve the capacity needs of the high school and facility upgrade of the east middle school,” Conner said, adding another significant drop-off occurs in 2027 when Noblesville Intermediate School’s $4.1-million annual payments end.
The Noblesville Schools 2012 tax rate was $1.3502 per $100 assessed value (decreased slightly from last year’s $1.3686). Rich said the gross tax rate impact for two high schools is .4562 cents and .1239 cents for one high school. The impact years – the height of the tax rate impact – would occur in 2021 for one high school and 2027 for two high schools. For a property with an assessed value of $150,000, the annual debt service tax impact in its impact year over the present rate would be $311.25 for two high schools and $101.55 for one high school.
Property owners can estimate how each option could impact their property taxes by using a tax calculator available at www.noblesvilleschools.org.
In fall 1996, Noblesville High School opened its location at 18111 Cumberland Rd. Graduating class sizes have increased yearly since that time, and now the community has reached a crossroad – does the community want to have the high school scenario of Carmel and Hamilton Southeastern school districts?
