At its regularly scheduled meeting Nov. 14, the Putnam County Board of Education discussed desires for the new elementary school it plans to build soon.
Architect Douglas Breaux of Breaux & Associates in Alpharetta presented data from community listening sessions that allowed teachers, faculty, and parents to propose ideas of what they would like to see in the new school. He also summarized common requests, requests with high interest and requests with moderate interest.
“One thing I will tell you is that there was a lot of reaction in our listening sessions to the location they are at now,” said Breaux. “They are offering suggestions partially based on what they want to improve from their current location.”
Some of these common and high-interest requests include larger classrooms, more classroom storage, smart or flexible furniture, more parking, three playgrounds, covered outdoor lunch areas and classrooms, covered drop-off areas, group classrooms, stem labs and more.
“Everyone continuously brought up wanting the school to be secure and it was clear that faculty and parents had safety in mind throughout the listening sessions,” said Breaux.
After the presentation, the board was able to offer its own concerns and suggestions about construction of the school. Chairman Dr. Steve Weiner expressed concern over the construction of wings and limitations to flexibility with some of the proposals from the community sessions. He proposed building based on the site first, rather than from the classroom outward.
“Buildings in this part of the world can last and be used for 50 years. I am looking for the maximum amount of flexibility for the minimal costs. That is my concern,” said Weiner. Board member Caroline Ann Gunthrie expressed interest in a covered drop-off and pick-up area. In her experience, this has been a struggle for the school, she said. In addition, board member Rev. Simone Jones was interested in seeing an outdoor classroom, so long as there exists a way to address unique safety concerns that come with outdoor areas.
Board member Eugene Smith proposed the use of partitions to make rooms larger and smaller. This would allow more flexibility to teachers and students for group classrooms, larger class sizes or smaller class sizes. However, other board members expressed concern over the cost of partitions versus installing a hard wall.
Breaux told the board he and his staff would “take all of your suggestions into consideration,” then thanked everyone for their time.
The meeting closed with approval of a technology purchase and a track-and-field equipment purchase for Putnam County High School. The board also left a reminder to everyone present that on Dec. 6 at 6 p.m., there will be a community conversation on taxes hosted at the Putnam County Middle School Little Theater.