St. Charles School Board to review proposed facility master plan next month

St. Charles School Board members next month will hear what an educational facility planning committee has to say about what needs to be done to the district’s buildings.

The educational facility planning committee, which is made up of community and staff members, will make a presentation to the board at its June 14 meeting. The committee’s charge has been to develop a comprehensive long-range Educational Facilities Master Plan with one or more scenarios for recommendation to the School Board.

The last time the plan was updated was in 2008. During the School Board’s Business Services Committee meeting on Thursday, Dan Kritta, a partner with Wold Architects, talked about some of the committee’s needs.

“One of the most passionate needs that this committee came up with is making sure that there is a balance of accessibility,” he said. “The committee felt very strongly about making sure that the district strives to make all buildings accessible.”

Another of the committee’s needs is ensure that all learning spaces within the district are equal.

“We know we can’t make everything identical, but we can make sure that learning spaces have equity among all grade levels in any given building,” Kritta said.

Board member Becky McCabe was wondering if board members would have the opportunity to review the presentation prior to the June 14 meeting.

“I think board members are going to want to read the material or at least get a good sense before we hear it so they come well prepared with their questions,” McCabe said.

Board member Carolyn Waibel agreed.

‘We’re going to want to review what the recommendations are and perhaps go visit the facility and then hear what the committee says and probably in that order,” Waibel said.

Kritta said a draft of the presentation could be made available almost a week ahead of the June 14 meeting.