Preliminary Designs for Elementary School Project Shared with NJ-SP School Board

The proposed Elementary School Project at North Judson-San Pierre was discussed with school board members when they gathered for their first meeting of 2020.

Superintendent Dr. Annette Zupin informed the board that they will meet ahead of their regularly scheduled meeting in February in order to attend a hearing related to the process.

Dr. Zupin explained, “February 11th, there will be a special board meeting and that’s called a 1028 hearing. Fanning Howey will be here to talk more about the scope, Pooja [Shrestha] from Baker and Tilly will talk about how we’re going to finance this and then Thomas Peterson talks to us about the process of the remonstrance period.”

Fanning Howey Chief Executive Officer Bill Payne went onto to discuss preliminary design plans with the school board. More detailed designs will be shared once funding is in place.

He displayed a few different schematics during his presentation. The first one showed the current layout of the elementary school and the next one showed the proposed design of the renovated building with the addition of an auxiliary gymnasium.

One of the advantages of the new gym, according to Payne, is that there will be an additional entrance which it will allow school officials to zone off the rest of the school during sporting events.

Payne also showed the building broken down categorically into renovation levels. The level of renovation ranged from light to heavy. The majority of the building will only require light renovation and a few spots will require medium renovation.

The main area where heavy renovation will be required will be current gym which will be repurposed in some way. Initial ideas for what could go there include an expanded dining space, a staff lounge, a meeting room, a makers space and a large group instruction area.

Payne noted that feedback from staff and community members will be valuable when finalizing designs for that area.