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The Fayetteville School District will begin construction on a new high school during the 2010-11 school year. The school district hopes for minimal distractions for students and minimal traffic jams during construction.

Fayetteville School District finalizes plans to build new high school on same property

By: Lana Hazel

Posted: 4/29/09

Fayetteville Public School District officials recently decided to start building a new high school on the same site as the existing facilities. While learning in the middle of a construction zone might sound like a challenge, most members of the school board, the design team and parent and teacher organizations are confident that an effective learning environment can be maintained.

The school district's first choice was to sell the 40-acre high school campus and build a school at a new location. When the UA, its most likely buyer, did not snatch up the property, the district decided it would have to build new facilities at the current location.

The distractions and inconveniences caused by construction were mentioned in favor of buying property for a new location for the high school, but because the decision to keep the existing property was made, this has not been a source of much concern. Many have said that plans to minimize distractions will be enough, but some are not quite that confident.

Tim Hudson, vice president of the school board, said on-site construction happens all the time and was more concerned with the challenge of reworking an existing site than with the possible distractions for students.

"Sure, there are disruptions," he said, "but it will be staged in a way that the noisiest phases will take place when students aren't there," such as during the summers.

Dan Marzoni, the president of the Arkansas Education Association, said the construction had the potential to make a significant difference for the classroom and that plans to prevent a negative effect were essential to the building plan.

"If there is building and education going on at the same time at the same place, it is going to be very difficult. They should have a plan to move people around to reduce a difficult learning environment," he said.

"We don't have the luxury of pulling 2,000 students off campus and putting them somewhere else," Hudson said. "We will have to face the challenge of reworking that site while we are still educating there."

The design team said building around an existing facility was just another factor in designing the plan instead of a huge concern.

"This kind of stuff happens a lot and probably more in schools than in other places," said Bobbie Hill, director of planning for Concordia LLC. "It's going to be disruptive, but there are plenty of ways to mitigate that. It's a small price to pay in the scheme of things."

Hill said schools that are rebuilding at a current location usually have what she called a "swing space" where students are relocated during the building process. Even with that option available, the main high school campus will definitely continue to be used throughout the construction period.

Kristen Boswell, the director of the Arkansas State Teachers Association, said members were not too worried about the building plan and have not been involved.

"There are obvious concerns with having ongoing construction at the same location as students, namely safety and distraction," she said. "However, we are confident in the district's plans to ensure the safety of the students and to preserve their learning environment."

Libby Combs, the parent involvement facilitator for Fayetteville High School, said the construction has not been brought up as a concern or complaint in parent meetings. She said the Parental Involvement Committee plans to fully support the decision to build new facilities at the current location.

Another potential difficulty caused by the construction is traffic issues. Hill said "it would be unrealistic to think it won't have an impact on parking and accessibility." She said the current layout wasn't designed with circulation in mind and that there would probably be an increase in congestion during construction. However, she said that "the new plan will make a gigantic difference" in terms of traffic flow and accessibility.

"From the perspective of an impact on the university, there may be traffic changes during the different phases as their construction crews access the property," said Mike Johnson, director of facilities management for the UA.

One consideration for the construction phase is closing Stone Street, the road that runs through the high school campus, either permanently or during the school day. In a similar situation, Springdale High School recently requested the permanent closing of Emma Street during construction on its campus.

Ron Bradshaw, the assistant superintendent of special services for Springdale Public Schools, said it was closed because the high school was a split campus and 600 kids crossing the street every day created safety concerns.

Hudson had the students in mind, including his two sons who will be attending the high school during building phases, when he said the district "will work real hard to minimize disruptions and put thought into the safety of our students."

He said the construction will be securely fenced off and that "a lot of the design will allow the work to take place quite a ways away from academic facilities."

The design team is keeping the community in mind along with the students. Hill said it is important to think of the campus in the context of the entire neighborhood, including the neighboring university. She said they have met with the UA's campus planners and the city planners to discuss future construction and growth.

"The community made a wise decision to keep the school in the heart of the community," Hill said.

Mayor Lioneld Jordan said he considers keeping the current location a wise decision.

"It promises to continue a relationship between Fayetteville High School and the UA that has spanned more than 50 years," he said. "Both institutions will benefit from the ?proposed plans, and concurrent enrollment is only one of the benefits."

The district hopes to start building the new high school in the 2010-11 school year and work toward an opening date by August 2012. The school board will consider next month whether to call for a millage election in the fall to help fund the building project.