Utopia ISD begins facilities study
One of the main outcomes of Utopia ISD’s newly completed Strategic Plan was the creation of a facilities committee to study the district’s needs. The Strategic Planning Committee, of nearly 30 members, toured the school campus. The Facilities Committee put some dates and times together to open the school for the community to come in, take a look and give feedback.
The Facilities Committee determined there was a need but was not sure what exactly was needed. The Committee has been meeting once a month and one of the things they determined was needed was a “facilities study.” The group went to the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) and presented their findings to the Board of Trustees. After approval by the Board, the TASB group will begin their evaluation in August.
TASB requested more information from the community. The Committee put together tours throughout the summer. After each tour, time will be set aside for questions and discussion. The district is now publicizing the tours to encourage parents, and community members to come out and see for themselves the condition of the district facilities.
Derry was frank when asked if this was a preparation for a possible bond issue. He said that these tours will determine what the community wants, and if they want to pursue a bond. Community feedback will determine if the school needs remodeling, additional facilities, ancillary facilities, or new facilities. Gathering feedback from the community will determine what the school needs for the future and what will be done.
The district’s biggest facilities concern is that it has a main building which was built in 1927. The building started out with sixteen-foot ceilings, but over time and from other alterations, there are now three crawl spaces in the ceiling. This poses a significant fire safety concern. Up until recently, the campus had no smoke detection system or central alarm. The campus still has no sprinkler system.
While asbestos is still present in the mastic underneath the floor tiles and in the walls; it has been professionally mitigated. Strategic planning members were very concerned about this potential health issue.
The historic building began with a very small footprint and as additions have been added, the concrete slabs don’t connect. The foundation shows signs of crumbling because of this. An historic story about the old building relates that when the original wood flooring began to rot, it was removed, and concrete was poured into the floor crawl space through the windows to form a new floor. The wood of the walls of the original building was used as framing for the concrete floor.
The electrical infrastructure of the Old Building has also reached its natural lifespan. Derry relates that not another single device can be plugged in in the Old Building.
When asked how amenable the community is to address any of these concerns, Derry said that if the changes are instructional in nature, he feels the community will be supportive. “The people I have talked to so far, want the best for the students in the community. That was very exciting to hear,” Derry stated.
“I think the community is open to the conversation, I think the biggest thing we are going to face now is the fact that construction costs have gone through the roof,” Derry remarked. Derry noted that the cost of steel and lumber is “sky high.”
“The people are very good here; they want to take care of their kids. So, we will just see how it goes. We are in the beginning stages. We have already had one tour with everyone on the strategic planning committee,” Derry said.
“I would just like to say thank you to the community and the people of Utopia. If we put it out there that we need something, the community comes together to make sure we get it,” he stated.
Utopia School has a lot to be proud of. Its FFA Barbeque Team went to state for the first time. The community came together to help the student chefs travel to the competition and pay their entry fee. Their desert came in 11th in the state, and their barbeque was ranked in the top twenty out of 85 teams. The district is home to the state mixed doubles tennis champs, and the second-place state boys’ singles winner. Utopia is also home to the UIL state second place ready writing winner.
The facility tours will continue throughout the summer, starting at 6:00 PM by the gazebo on June 6, June 20, June 23, and July 25. At the August Board meeting, a summary of the feedback collected during the summer will be reported to the Board by the Facilities Committee. The TASB Facilities Study will begin in August. The wrap up of that process will be reported to the Board in either September or October of next school year.