Valley school plan OK'd

The Juneau School Board unanimously approved the schematic design for the new Mendenhall Valley high school Tuesday night. The design now goes before the Juneau Assembly for final approval.

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"We've passed on the schematic with some suggestions," said School Board President Chuck Cohen. "If we continue to move in a reasonably prompt manner we may have this school open in August '06."

The plan shows what the inside of the school will look like, including placement of classrooms, the library and other areas. It has a few more hurdles to clear before it will be final, including a review by the Assembly's Public Works and Facilities Committee, full Assembly approval, and a public vote to OK the new project's cost.

In a last-minute addition, the School Board Facilities Committee added an auxiliary gym to the design.

"We asked the architects to look at an auxiliary gym, with no additional local contribution," Cohen said.

The committee asked for the gym addition in response to community concerns about sufficient space for sports team practice, Cohen said. The gym addition can be canceled if the budget gets tight, he said.

The high school plan has been in the works since voters approved a $50 million school designed to serve 1,500 students as part of a municipal bond package in 1999. Because of rising labor costs and other budgetary issues, the proposed school will be smaller and cost more than was planned, serving 1,050 students at a total cost of $60 million.

The smaller plan approved by the School Board has been designed to be expanded later to accommodate 1,500 students by including larger core areas such as common spaces, halls and the kitchen, architects from the design firm Minch Ritter Voelckers told the School Board on Tuesday night.

When the voters passed the bonding package in 1999, they agreed to pay for half of the $50 million project with property tax dollars, with the state reimbursing the other $25 million. Voter approval Nov. 5 of a measure linked to a state school general obligation bond package means Juneau will be reimbursed by the state at 60 rather that 50 percent of the project cost. The new reimbursement level allows the city to cover the $10 million project cost increase with state funds, leaving the burden on local taxpayers unchanged.

Even though the tax burden will remain the same, voters must approve the project because of the higher cost. The Assembly can schedule the bond vote once the project is approved.

"If people aren't confident the voters want a new school, I'm not sure what else we can do to make them confident," Cohen said.

Julia O'Malley can be reached at jomalley@juneauempire.com.