District Superintendent Aaron Moran said he anticipates asking the board to approve the building design at its meeting scheduled for April 22.
The board heard comments and concerns from community members on building aspects including its three stories (an increase from two stories in initial planning discussions) and large open learning spaces on all three floors.
Plans call for the housing of prekindergarten through second grade students on the first floor, grade 3-5 on the second floor, and grades 6-8 on the third floor. Each floor will include classrooms, flexible learning spaces and support areas. The district is working with the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission on the project.
District voters in spring 2024 approved an 8.68-mill bond issue to help pay for the new building and updates to Tippecanoe High School.
Key to the design were flexibility, collaboration and security, said architect Brian Wolf. Each floor is designed in pods with the ability to lock down each pod if needed. Each floor also includes large collaboration spaces with mobile furniture that can be used for gathering needs both large and small.
The restroom plan for the building was defined in comments simply as “separated for boys and girls.” An earlier proposal for single-person unisex restrooms led to outcry from community members.
Two former school board members questioned parts of the plan. Anne Zakkour said the board in 2023 talked about a two-story plan, which also was included in materials distributed by the bond issue committee. She thinks a two-story building would work better and that the south end of the building would be better suited for classrooms and offices with windows instead of the plan for loading docks and mechanical equipment.
Corine Doll, an educator, said she doesn’t think the open spaces improve the learning environment.
“I think it’s beautiful,” board member Kyle Thompson said of the overall building plan.
Board member Cynthia Dillard said she liked the flexible spaces particularly for use by individual or small group services/programs.
“I really love the extra flexible spaces,” she said. “If something doesn’t work once the building opens, we can adjust.”
The schematic plans can be found on the district website at http://www.tippcityschools.com.
Contact this contributing writer at nancykburr@aol.com
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