6 minute read
Thriving Through Growth; Creating a Future Together
It takes a village to raise a school. Hand-crafted, expert partnerships are key. and VLK is one of those rare partners that strives to understand the whole picture and provide guidance at every step.
THRIVING THROUGH GROWTH; CREATING A FUTURE TOGETHER
Perspective from Dr. Jamie Wilson, Chair, Fast Growth School Coalition & Superintendent, Denton ISD; with insights from Clinton Schiver, VLK Principal
It was the fall of 2005, and I had just started my first year as Assistant Superintendent in the Denton ISD.* The enrollment in our school system had just surpassed 15,000 students. The district was opening its third comprehensive high school and introducing the newly constructed advanced technology complex specifically designed to support our CTE programs. The greater Denton area was growing, but it was still a relatively “well-kept secret.” Our community was composed primarily of long-term residents within the City of Denton core who valued public education, the work of our teachers, and would bend over backwards to lend a helping hand. Fast-forward to the fall of 2019, a short 14 years later, and Denton ISD is expected to surpass 32,000 students, and will open its 24th elementary school, Union Park Elementary. Our district has built 24 schools since 2000, 11 in the last 10 years, with not one of those 11 schools constructed inside the city limits of Denton.** Our rural, primarily agrarian areas of our school system have been making the transition from cotton fields to single-family “Disney style” developments, catering to younger families in search of not only a high quality of life, but an even higher quality of education. It’s been a challenge. In order to address fast-growth, aging facilities, a change in academic program delivery, a shift in community demographics, and efficiencies in school design, our growing district required a broad based community approach. While Denton had always been supportive of schools, education, and bond referendums to construct facilities, this fast-growth
*Clinton: At this time VLK was entering its third decade of service to public schools in Texas and had an ongoing 14 year partnership with Denton ISD.
**Clinton: It has been our privilege to continuously work, plan, design, learn, and grow alongside them. This continued partnership and our market focus on public school design allowed us to develop a deep understanding of the mission and operational needs of this fast-growth district.
*Clinton: Preserving the communities’ trust is of paramount importance, because we recognize the need to maintain community support for the many bond referendums to come. Our efforts to stay true to the master plan and to provide accurate cost forecasting, timely delivery of the projects, and transparent communication during a project’s development has ensured the bond program’s success.
**Clinton: Re-framing the conversation regarding the long-term value of new construction and the positive economic impact on the community has created broad-based support for Denton ISD schools.
***Clinton: Building partnerships with cities, counties, utility providers, and transportation authorities has provided unified solutions that benefit the entire community. Ongoing communication and planning provides for optimal cost sharing and project delivery.
phenomenon was different. Our voters were asked to allocate dollars to build schools for children whose families did not even live in Texas yet, much less in Denton. Every three to five years since 2000, our Denton ISD community assesses facility needs by establishing a bond committee to study the needs of a growing district while also addressing the aging facilities at the core of our community.* It is important for our citizens to understand the elements of economic growth, the benefits of economic development, and the impact of school construction on our region. School construction creates commerce, it creates jobs, and it stimulates the economy. Whether we build new schools to accommodate growth, renovate existing facilities or upgrade programmatic areas, our residents must understand that these expenditures are investments in our community, not expenses. Not only are we creating immediate jobs with our construction projects, but we are creating teaching jobs when we grow and we are creating an educated work force for the future. When we invest in ourselves and our community, we succeed as one. A rising tide lifts all boats.** Planning for future schools can’t be done in isolation. It requires partnerships.*** The obvious elements of planning include designs for safety and security of students and staff, instructional delivery, and innovative spaces. But there are other factors to consider: growth patterns within the district, land acquisition, utility locations, mobility plans, and more. As career educators, these are skills not often found in our toolbox. Planning meetings move from discussing familiar topics
such as instructional delivery, staffing, and transportation routes, to discussing building design and site development with engineers, planners, architects, demographers, traffic engineers, and renewable energy consultants. It takes a village to raise a school. Hand-crafted, expert partnerships are key.
As school districts grow, it is essential to find a good demographer. Demographic projections determine the need for new school capacity, the timing for new construction, and optimal locations that can provide the most capacity relief with the least feeder zone disruption.* Work with local governmental entities to determine mobility plans and best locations for new schools. If you must purchase land for future schools, be sure to include land acquisition in bond planning. We try to have land acquisition dollars in a bond program prior to the school that will be on that property. Having the “land in hand” quickens the planning and design process. It allows the superintendent to be at the table and ready to act when master-planned communities are being discussed.** Leading a fast-growth district is a unique challenge, but it can also be a blessing. We can design schools with customized instructional delivery and safety at the outset. Whether the goal is building new facilities or the renovation of legacy schools, our planning centers on student learning and student achievement. It’s a kinetic process. The future is not something one simply enters, it is something we create, together.*** *Clinton: We developed a unified planning approach long ago with fast growth districts like Keller ISD to link the demographic projections with operational capacities and design and construction schedules. This approach has closely aligned new construction with growth and kept students out of portables.
**Clinton: Over the past 4 decades, VLK has learned the value of advanced real estate procurement and assisted districts like EMSISD, Lamar CISD, Aledo ISD, Socorro ISD, and many others in evaluating land purchased at the time it is
available by the acre, long before houses and stores arrive, and it is bought by the square foot.
***Clinton: Our continued partnerships with Texas public schools as well as the inclusion of Educational Planners on our staff has increased our understanding of the teaching and learning at the core of these campuses.
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Comprehensive process of analyzing school districts’ current and future needs of facilities through review of current conditions, educational adequacy, demographics, and instructional goals to create a long range plan to meet the needs of districts and the communities they serve.
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Kevin Worthy, Superintendent, Royse City ISD
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