Oxford residents hear school configuration options

OXFORD – Less than thirty people turned out for a public informational meeting at Oxford Middle School Wednesday night. But those who were in attendance had a lot of questions for the district’s superintendent and board of education.

The information forum was the first of two such events planned to inform district residents on three options for a capital project being considered by the board. The second meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 8 in the Middle School auditorium.

Superintendent Randy Squier gave a powerpoint presentation on the capital project planning process, which began with a building condition survey in 2007.

In those early planning stages, Squier explained, the board of education established four goals for the capital project.

Those objectives, he said, were to expand and improve the district’s physical education facilities; to bring grade 7 through 12 subject area teachers under one roof; to expand and improve the fine arts, technology, media and science facilities; and to upgrade the athletic facilities.

Using these programming and facilities goals as a guide, the board worked with Bernier Carr & Associates, the architectural consulting firm they retained last year, to develop several capital project options to meet the district’s future needs. They have narrowed the field to three.

The first identified option, Option 1, leaves the district’s grade configuration “as is.” The plan, with an estimated cost of $19.8 million, proposes extensive renovation and restoration of the historic Middle School building, flood mitigation efforts and upgrades to the Primary/High School campus.

In Option 2, the Middle School would remain in use as an educational facility but would house Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 2. Grades 3 and higher would be located in the current Primary/High School campus. This option would require even more extensive remodels of existing buildings, including a 22,500 square foot addition at the Primary/High School, but less extensive flood mitigation measures. The cost estimate is $26.7 million.

Option 3 would move all students to a Pre-K through 12 campus at the site of the Primary/High School building. A 51,750 square foot addition would be added to accommodate the move of grades 5 through 8 from the current Middle School. The Middle School would see only minimal renovations and be used as a bus garage and storage/administration building. The estimate for this option is $19.9 million, which includes only minimal renovations at the middle school.