Batavia school district developing master facilities plan

District 101 wants residents to weigh-in on future of buildings

Batavia School District 101

BATAVIA – Batavia School District 101 operates six elementary schools, Rotolo Middle School and Batavia High School.

The academic, music, athletic and extra-curricular programs are widely regarded as outstanding and are credited with attracting new families to Batavia.

Yet enrollments have been tumbling for years and are expected to continue to do so for next five years, the longest timeframe that may be reasonably projected.

With a significantly smaller student body and school buildings which are clearly showing their age, the district has been spending the last couple of years developing a master facilities plan, utilizing a “Core Team” of citizen volunteers.

The desired result will be a plan that deals with both the reduced enrollment and changing educational needs.

To this point, the district has developed two options that it wants the community at-large to consider and offer opinions.

The first option involves complete reconstruction of Alice Gustafson, H.C. Storm, J.B. Nelson and Louise White elementary schools, all on their existing sites. Work to create the brand-new buildings would be phased in over time to limit disruptions.

In addition, the first option includes major renovations for the high school, middle school and the district’s two newest elementary buildings, Grace McWayne and Hoover-Wood.

The renovations would include basic repairs and maintenance such as new roofs, mechanical systems and the like.

But changes to the structures also would be aimed at reimaging the building spaces, with an eye toward more cooperative work areas and in particular improvements to the schools’ Learning Resource Centers, or in a word, libraries.

The second option includes all of the same improvements for the high school, middle school, Grace McWayne and Hoover-Wood.

The key difference in the second option is that only three elementary school buildings, not four, would be reconstructed.

The fourth school would instead be closed, leaving the district with five elementary schools.

School officials say it is far too early discuss whether the building to be closed would be Alice Gustafson, H.C. Storm, J.B. Nelson or Louise White.

The first option, according to the Core Team report, would ensure the continuation of the neighborhood school concept. The second option would require changes in elementary school attendance boundaries as well as force the district to rethink its transportation strategy.

The district’s existing bond debt, from a referendum to make improvements at the high school, will be paid off by 2026.

A new, multi-million-dollar bond referendum appears to be the likely result of the master plan deliberations, but school officials say it will not be soon. They emphasize their desire to get as much public input as possible into the options they have already put on the table.

The Core Team will review community feedback and eventually make a final recommendation to the Batavia School Board, which is expected to review the plan at its May 25 meeting.

The public is invited to a Zoom webinar at 6 p.m. April 26 to learn more about the Core Team. According to a post on the district’s website, the team will meet to answer questions and discuss comments from the community. Advanced registration is required.

To learn more about the Core Team, visit the district’s website.