Somers schools ask for $7 million bond

This fall, the Somers School District will ask voters to approve a $7.125 million bond to construct a new building on the middle school campus.

The new building will become Somers Middle School for sixth- through eighth-grade students. The existing middle school building will house students in grades four and five.

The move would free up six classrooms at Lakeside Elementary School, which has experienced significant enrollment growth in recent years.

If approved, the 20-year bond would increase property taxes on a home with an assessed value of $250,000 by about $15 per month.

In the last decade, enrollment in the Somers-Lakeside School District has increased by 15 percent. Last year, enrollment increased by 65 students. This year - to the administrators' relief - numbers have remained static.

Typically the district has three classrooms for every grade. This fall, Lakeside Elementary has four kindergarten sections, five first grades and four third grades.

To accommodate all those students, the school has converted an art room and Title I tutoring rooms into regular classrooms. Those Title I programs now take place in a former copy room and out-of-the-way hallway. Two special education classes are taught in the same room. Two physical education classes take place concurrently in the gym.

For the next several years, increased enrollment at Lakeside Elementary will be the district's primary concern. The elementary school is just 10 years old; when it was built, school officials thought they were "building for the future," Superintendent Teri Wing told the Inter Lake in February.

State accreditation standards limit early elementary classes to 20 students. With no more rooms available for remodel, third- through fifth-grade classrooms may have to be used to accommodate younger students if the bond fails. Instead of three classrooms set aside for each grade, third-, fourth- and fifth-graders might have to make do with two classes each, which would increase class sizes considerably.

Enrollment at Somers Middle School has increased as well. Classrooms are at or near capacity, and there are no unused rooms in the building. Without an expanded campus, students will be crowded into classrooms when the large elementary classes reach the middle school.

If, however, the bond passes in November, construction would be finished by fall 2010 - the year the first large class moves from Lakeside Elementary to Somers Middle School.

The new facility would include 12 to 16 classrooms, depending on construction costs, and a competition-sized gymnasium. The district would purchase land adjacent to the proposed gym site for access and parking.

Some bond money would be used to renovate the existing middle school gym, which is carpeted and not competition-sized, into a cafeteria and multipurpose room. The existing cafeteria would be renovated to house shop classes.

The district would hire a construction manager, who would help select an architect and oversee the project. The construction manager would help keep costs down, school officials said.

The district will detail the building plans and hear public input at several public forums before the election. The first forum is scheduled for Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. at Somers Middle School.

The district will mail ballots to all registered voters Oct. 23. All ballots are due at the district office by 8 p.m. Nov. 13. There will be no on-site voting; all voters must use mail-in ballots.

A Web site for information and input is under construction at www.somersdist29.org.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com