Dec. 5, 2016 –Mayville, WI – The Mayville Facility Study committee continues to research and review the needs of the Mayville School District. The volunteer committee conducts tours, speaks with local teachers, and actively engages contractors to identify, prioritize, and address the immediate and long term needs of the school district. It has been a very informative and engaging process.
The Mayville Facility Studies Committee established smaller and more manageable sub-committees to analyze several different areas of the school district. In an article published last week, the facility study committee reported the findings from the Community Athletics and Learning Space sub-committees. This week we will provide the findings from the Fine Arts, Infrastructure, and Safety & Security and sub-committees.
FINE ARTS
The Fine Arts subcommittee presented its finding in a PowePoint presentation. This presentation is available on the subcommittee’s web page located at http://www.mayville.k12.wi.us/community/finearts.cfm . The presentation was compiled after physical review of the existing facilities, consultation with the staff, and consultation with community organizations such as the Marais Players and Community Children’s Theater.
When Mayville residents think of fine arts in the school district, they probably think of the long standing success of the Mayville School District Show Choir, vocal programs, and band programs. Under the direction of strong educators and committed students, these programs have established local, regional, and even national success. The success story of the Mayville School District Fine Art Programs started 50 years ago when community leaders envisioned the need for an auditorium, along with practice rooms, as the current high school was being constructed. According to the Mayville Facility Fine Arts sub-committee, auditoriums tend to be common in newer high schools; but were not as common when the current high school was constructed.
Mayville continues to have a strong fine arts program with over 30% of the high school student population participating in the music programs. These programs provide for growth of our local school district students and also attracts students from other school districts. For these reasons and others, the Fine Arts sub-committee strives to build upon the 50-year tradition of strong fine arts, and determine a way to provide the school district students current and safe auditorium and practice classrooms.
The current auditorium still contains most of the original equipment, finishing, and mechanicals from when it was constructed. The high school auditorium is currently used for school and community meetings, band concerts, vocal concerts, etc. However, large drama productions, school assemblies, and show choir performances are not held in the high school auditorium. The reasons for this include lack of seating, safety concerns, and ADA accessibility.
The Fine Arts sub-committee believes that the Mayville School District should continue with the vision of the previous school leaders and community support the continuation of the fine art programs in the school district. Committee members suggest the need for a 500 seat auditorium and they recognize that this need can be included in a new construction plan or a building remodel. According to the committee, this auditorium should contain handicap seating and accessibility so the entire student body and educational staff can utilize the space, for concerts, student club meetings, local business events, etc.
The Fine Arts sub-committee emphasized that the auditorium and fine arts classrooms benefit not only the school district student body, but can also benefit the entire Mayville regional community. For this reason, the committee recommended continuing to consult stakeholder organizations to develop a collaborative network of community organizations. A few of the organizations that were mentioned were the Mayville local community theater – Marais Players, the community children theater group, local business organizations, and miscellaneous other private supporters.
INFRASTRUCTURE
The Infrastructure sub-committee was tasked with organizing and identifying the needs of the School District as they relate to needed maintenance issues, interior and exterior problem areas, electrical and plumbing needs, updates to the buildings’ envelope, and HVAC updates. The needs are many, ranging from items that could be addressed immediately to those that will need to be done within the next 10-15 years.
Infrastructure sub-committee co-chairs Randy Clark and Tom Malesevich tackled the problem by taking input from the tours of each facility and organizing the various issues into a spreadsheet. “The issues were then ranked on a one to nine scale by Urgency, Safety, Usability, and Convenience” explained co-chair Randy Clark. Cost information: The spreadsheet itself is available at http://www.mayville.k12.wi.us/community/Infrastructure.cfm .
The list of identified issues reflects infrastructure needs from all three schools. At Parkview Elementary problem areas ranged from an aging boiler to needed electrical updates, and a proposal to install air conditioning to prevent the mold which shut down the gymnasium for months last year (and cost the district close to $300,000 to remediate). The Middle School has issues with a retaining wall in front, a malfunctioning chiller system, and a need to upgrade controls and retro commission HVAC components. The High School has needs including HVAC equipment past its useful life, a strong need for modern controls, exterior site and asphalt work, water heaters ten years past replacement estimates, and a multitude of other concerns.
The District has already started working on the issues and Superintendent Scott Sabol was happy to report that several items were remedied already out of the operational budget. Both the district and the contractor’s assisting the Facility Study Committee are working to develop a plan to incorporate the findings of the Infrastructure sub-committee into a long range plan for the district.
SAFETY AND SECURITY
The safety and security sub-committee was tasked with studying the needs of the schools as they relate to providing both physical security and a safe environment for students. The sub-committee, through chairman Mark Fox, presented its findings after consultation with police and community leaders as well as the professionals assisting the district.
The committee’s recommendations included the construction of a secure entrance for the High School. The current High School entrances are not visible by any of the staff at the main office and oftentimes people are able to access the school without reporting in. Sub-committee chairperson, Mark Fox, included a sketch of a possible secure entrance.
Other recommendations involved increased monitoring cameras and tying those cameras into technology to allow them to be easily accessed by staff members and police. Exterior lighting at the High School was another major concern, both from a safety standpoint and a security standpoint. The full report is available at http://www.mayville.k12.wi.us/community/safety.cfm .
The facility study committee is comprised of volunteers representing diverse interests in the community. Further information, all facility study committee meeting information, minutes, and documentation can be found at www.mayvilleschools.com. To contact the Facility Study Committee, use the email addresses listed on the website.