Philomath Academy appears to be in line for more classroom space at its current location in the school district office, according to a report shared with the Philomath School Board earlier this month.
Superintendent of Schools Susan Halliday had described to board members this spring how the alternative school’s staff and students have been operating in near-capacity conditions. As of three weeks ago, the academy’s enrollment was reported as 88 students and the superintendent has said in the past that the current single classroom is consistently full in the mornings.
To free up more classroom space for Philomath Academy in the district building, the Department of Special Programs and Student Services will be relocated.
“We need to just be fiscally responsible and move them into the PHS library computer lab,” said Joey DiGiovannangelo, the school district’s facilities director said during a report at the May 8 School Board meeting. “We’re going to do that this summer.”
With the space that’s gained, DiGiovannangelo said a possibility will be to partition off part of the classroom to create a meeting room.
“It would probably be two-thirds of academy classroom and a third of it would be district office meeting space,” Superintendent of Schools Susan Halliday said.
As for long-range facility plans for Philomath Academy, those discussions will continue. As reported last month, the school district looked at the former Philomath Family Medicine building at 1219 Applegate St., as a possible new home for the administration but it was ultimately determined that the purchase and renovation costs would be too steep.
DiGiovannangelo told board members that he is working on establishing a long-range facility planning committee by August. At around the same time, the Oregon Department of Education will tentatively visit as part of a facilities assessment.
“They’re supposed to be fairly thorough with all the things that they look at,” DiGiovannangelo said. “So I think that’ll be good for our long-range planning.”
DiGiovannangelo provided updates on several other projects (as of May 8):
- All schools have been upgrading to LED lighting, a process that’s been ongoing for approximately two years. DiGiovannangelo said work remains in Philomath High School classrooms and at Blodgett Elementary. He anticipates the upgrades to be completely finished by the end of the summer.
- A roofing project on the high school’s old auto shop building was completed. The estimated $40,000 price tag was covered by a warranty with no cost to the district.
- A siding replacement project on the Clemens Field grandstands was completed. The work included new galvanized steel stairs that lead up to the press box. A new set of steel stairs for the baseball field’s grandstands should be occurring at any time. The stairs will replace a ladder that provides access to the press box.
- A major water leak occurred over the winter break at Philomath Elementary, a project that involved tearing out walls in staff bathrooms to access pipes that allowed a crew to reroute water to solve the issue.
- A safety-related project that’s ongoing connects panic buttons to fire doors to be able to seal off hallways, an extra layer to separate a possible intruder from students. The work has already been done at the high school and is planned for this summer at the primary school and elementary school. A final plan for the middle school has been delayed because of its doorway configuration.
- New boiler pumps, which supply heat for the building, will be installed at the middle school, an extensive project that requires replacement of the existing plumbing. DiGiovannangelo said it would be the first time that the boiler pumps have been replaced since the building was constructed in 1973.
- DiGiovannangelo and School Board member Ryan Cheeke also mentioned a project that a group of five elementary students have taken on involving safety improvements to the playground.
- Elsewhere, Newline touchscreen displays will be installed in several locations to improve communication between school buildings, four classrooms at the elementary school will get new carpeting, Blodgett’s gym and kitchen will get a ductless heat pump, restriping of the track and field areas is planned and field drainage work in the field event areas and at the junior varsity softball field will occur.
