Plan OK'd for middle school changes

The Libby School Board last week

approved remodel plans for the middle school.

The remodel will convert the existing

wood shop area into four classrooms in the green wing of the

school. A storage room will be converted into a special education

classroom and a custodial closet converted into a staff restroom in

the same wing.

Libby Middle School Principal Ron

Goodman praised the plan.

“I was very pleased to see an area in

the middle school converted to special education – that’s a

life-saver for us,” he said.

CTA Architects Engineers presented the

school district with two options for remodeling the middle school

to meet needs determined by the school staff.

The School Board approved the less

expensive option, which is roughly $294,000. The price should,

however, come well below that figure when its put out for bid, the

board trustees noted.

“That’s the maximum price,” trustee

Tony Rebo. “I would expect it to be 5 to 10 percent less than

that.”

The board voted to close Asa Wood

elementary school at the end of this school year as a cost-saving

measure. The district is facing a projected $450,000 shortfall in

its budget.

Parents, teachers and community members

have voiced apprehension at the prospect of closing Asa Wood by the

end of the school year. Several folks have spoken at School Board

meetings asking the board to reconsider.

The School Board has chosen to continue

with consolidation plans and is looking at remodeling the middle

and high school to prepare for moving all students into the two

buildings. Libby Middle School will house kindergarten through

sixth grade. Seventh through 12th graders will attend Libby High

School.

At the middle school, kindergarten

students will move into the brown wing and first graders in the

adjacent orange wing. Second and third grades will be located in

the blue wing. While fourth and fifth grades will be in the yellow

wing. Sixth grade and the computer lab will be located in the green

wing.

Goodman said locating the sixth graders

apart from other students was the best choice.

“It makes sixth grade the capstone of

our building by having their own wing,” he said. “It also puts them

close to technology (with the computer lab).”

The School Board looked at two options

last week for the high school remodel.

Seventh and eighth grade students will

be located in the northwest classroom wing separate from other

students. The major addition to the school will be a commons or

cafeteria space for the seventh and eighth grade students.

Option 1 converts two classrooms

adjacent to the northwest wing into the commons area. This is

estimated to cost about $502,000.

The second option would turn the

library back into its original design that puts a kitchen back into

the east end of the library. A commons cafeteria area would be

created to accommodate the younger students. A folding wall would

be built between the library and commons area so that, when needed,

library use could spill over into the commons. An existing lunch

seating area near the library would be converted into a library

computer lab. This option is estimated to cost about $544,000.

Libby High School Principal Rik Rewerts

said there are pros and cons to both options.

He said Option 1 would leave the

northwest wing short on classrooms — he prefers eight classrooms to

seven in the wing.

“It does do a better job of isolating

the seventh and eighth kids without intermixing them with the high

school kids,” he said. “I hate taking away classroom space because

we’re so tight.”

Rewerts said Option 2 would be his

preference, but he noted that many staff members have concerns

about reducing the library’s size because it’s so well

utilized.

Marlene Kelsch, the high school

librarian, asked the board to consider keeping the library as large

as possible.

“It is multi-use,” she said. “We have

students in there from quarter-till 8 in the morning until 5 in the

afternoon.”

There are students in the library

working on research projects, during study hall and free period and

the computers are most often occupied by students, she noted.

Kelsch said she would prefer leaving

the library’s computer lab in the library. If it’s moved, she said,

library staff won’t be able to assist teachers by supervising

students on the computers.

“Teachers are comfortable sending them

to the library and the kids know they can get help,” she said.

In Option 2, a folding wall would be

built between the library and commons area so that, when needed,

library use could spill over into the commons.

“Can we do both — keep the library and

have a commons?” Rewerts asked.

Rewerts asked the board for more time

to consult with his staff on the two options. The School Board will

hold a special meeting Wednesday, March 30 at 7 p.m. in the Little

Theatre to decide on an option for the high school.

To view the different options visit the

school district website at http://libby.k12.mt.us/ and click on

school consolidation information.