A group of Fayetteville-Manlius School District residents, F-M Board of Education members and district staff members will come together to hash out a recommendation on what projects the board should consider for the district’s next capital project vote.
“While the board will remain the final decision-making authority on what goes in the district’s long-range facilities plan and any proposal that goes before voters, this is one more way we can involve the community in the planning process, which will ultimately impact current and future students, staff and community members,” Superintendent Craig J. Tice said.
The board has used community advisory task forces in the past. It created an advisory task force in 2010 when it weighed constructing a new bus garage and again in 2011 when it considered adding a school resource officer. At its Jan. 9 meeting, the board charged the FM Community Facility Task Force with reviewing the highest priority facility needs, including the repair/renovation of Wellwood Middle School. The group will comment and advise on the feasibility of a future Wellwood capital project referendum and how it would relate to F-M High School and Enders Road Elementary School.
Those three buildings, with Eagle Hill Middle School a fourth consideration, have been identified as priorities for the task force to review based on the district’s 2015 state-required building condition survey report that highlighted the need for extensive work at the three school buildings.
The most pressing needs at Fayetteville and Mott Road elementary schools have been addressed in recent years, and while there are needs noted in the building condition survey for those buildings, they are not as critical as those identified in the other four schools.
A K to 12 Facilities Study Report submitted to the board in October by educational consultants School Leadership, LLC, identified five possible facility project options for board members to consider as they create a new long-range facility plan. After receiving community input and evaluating the five possible options, the board recently determined that it will no longer consider repurposing the Wellwood building and will maintain school campuses in both Fayetteville and Manlius.
During the Jan. 9 meeting, the administration shared with the board three possible renovation options for Wellwood, two for Enders and one for the high school that it plans to ask the task force to consider. The group will meet at least four times, beginning this month and concluding in late March, and will be expected to present the board with its recommendations in April. The earliest a capital project proposal would go before voters is June, and if the task force needs more time, the vote could be pushed into the fall.
In addition to reviewing district documents and data, the task force will take part in building walk-throughs and have the opportunity to ask questions of the district’s architects, engineers and staff familiar with the facilities.
The administration also presented to the board a task force membership by category and will select the individuals to serve on the group. The meetings will be led by an outside
facilitator, yet to be selected, and updates on the group’s progress will be reported at the board’s upcoming regular monthly meetings. The board of education’s next meeting is 6:30 p.m. Feb. 13 at Mott Road.
The board is encouraging community feedback regarding the district’s facilities. To review the planning process to date and weigh in, visit the F-M Let’s Talk! web page at fmschools.org/let’stalk.
