Facility study put on hold

By Jennifer Eisenbart

Editor

    When Nexus Solutions first came to the Burlington Area School District School Board last summer, it promised it could find the district ways to save money and upgrade facilities at the same time.

    And while Nexus, along with Scherrer Construction, came back to the district with savings last month, it wasn’t enough for the district to make a commitment to the company.

    The preliminary audit of the district’s facilities didn’t show enough for the Buildings, Grounds and Transportation Committee to recommend moving forward with an in-depth analysis.

    Had the district moved forward – and then chosen not to do any of the work Nexus had identified – it would have owed a walkaway fee of several thousand dollars.

    Instead, Jim Bousman thanked the company for the work it had done, but said it just wasn’t enough.

    “I think Scherrer-Nexus did exactly what they said they were going to do,” Bousman said, adding that it wasn’t necessarily the company’s fault the savings weren’t immediately evident in the preliminary analysis.

    “They gave us a promise they could come back and do a more comprehensive audit,” Bousman said.

    Rather than investing the time and money in that, however, Bousman and the committee tabled the item  – and then shifted responsibility for it to the long-range planning committee.

    The reasoning? With declining enrollment, the district first needs to determine what it needs for facilities before it pours money into buildings that may or may not be in use.

    New Board President Bill Campbell said it was “critical” to determine where to best spend the money.

    Another sentiment was that, while Nexus could find about $80,000 a year in utility savings, the fact that it wasn’t more – and that other changes match up with planned work – shows the work by Director of Buildings and Grounds Gary Olsen has been well-conceived.

    “I don’t think any of us are seeing any projects that Gary didn’t already have in mind,” said School Board Member Roger Koldeway.

    Citizen representative Barry Schmaling said the district had done a good job within its limitations.

    “With what we’ve had to work with, we’ve done a really good job,” Schmaling said.

    The overriding problem the district is facing right now is declining enrollment. A few years ago, grades 7 and 8 had classes of about 300 students each. Kindergarten enrollment for 2014-15 is currently at about 150, said Board Member Larry Anderson.

    “We’re going to have a pretty significant drop,” Anderson said.

    As a result, doing some sort of demographics study was what BASD Superintendent Peter Smet and board members said should be the first step in the process.

    Mike David of Nexus said that study and a facilities plan could go hand in hand, but the motion to table the study and have the Long-range Planning Committee take up a comprehensive look forward prevailed.

    It was a unanimous vote.