The Steering Team identified their top ten facility improvement needs:

·         Address overcrowding and population growth

·         Improve athletic and physical education facilities

·         Upgrade fine arts facilities

·         Add space for programs like pre-kindergarten, special education and ESOL

·         Provide FEMA shelters and improve safety around buildings, including bus loading zones and parking lots

·         General building upgrades to bring all schools to the same standards

·         Add classrooms to lower the district’s average class size to 18-20 students in elementary schools and 22 students in core classes in middle and high schools

·         Provide separate cafeterias and multi-purpose rooms for elementary schools with 400 or more students

·         Upgrade or expand libraries at 15-20 schools

·         Replace inefficient single-pane windows

The Facilities Master Plan committee was last convened in the fall of 2005, and a plan update was presented to the BOE in March 2006. The total estimated cost of facility needs in the 2006 report was $400 - $600 million. Priorities for secondary schools included updated athletic and fine arts facilities, and additional classroom space to reduce class sizes. The top priorities for elementary schools were class size reduction spaces, separate cafeteria and multi-purpose rooms and upgraded libraries.

The district had a similar process in 1999, which laid the groundwork for the $284.5 million bond issue in 2000. The bond issue addressed many of the district’s needs, but the original facility master plan outlined $450 million in facility needs.