GEARY — Representatives of Kerr 3 Architects were on hand Monday night at the Geary High School library to present options for the school board about new or renovated facilities.
The architects gave cost estimates for three different scenarios, but emphasized that the numbers are still preliminary and the discussions in early stages.
"The conclusion that we're going to show you tonight is not really a conclusion. It's a first step in a process that takes several months," said James Kerr, president of Kerr 3.
Kerr 3 representatives have been meeting with Superintendent Sean Buchanan, Kerr explained, along with district principals Christa Burns and Joy Osborne, to determine how much space the district would need. The result was three different proposals: One to renovate existing district facilities, one to build new facilities in two phases, and one to perform the construction all at once.
The projects ranged in cost from about $22.6 million to about $27 million, with the single-phase option being the least expensive and the two-phase project costing the most overall. However, the architects emphasized that the estimates did not include financing costs, the price of borrowing the money, which would tack on several million to the final cost of any project.
For instance, the last time the district ran a bond — which was unsuccessful — the overall bond price was about $33.5 million even though construction costs were only $26.6 million.
Buchanan and district officials expressed a desire to keep the overall project price tag under $30 million.
"Here we are looking at all of these options being millions of dollars less than (the last bond)," Buchanan said, despite the passage of time and the steep price increases of the post-COVID era. "To me, that just kind of speaks to how efficient the principals were as they were looking at what we needed to run the school. There's no fluff. ... (It) also speaks to the accuracy of Kerr's initial estimates."
Kerr 3 did bring an estimate for renovating the district's current facilities, which totaled about $23 million before financing costs. But board member Afton Jameson said the district has "outgrown" its elementary school, which sits blocks west of the high school and middle school. Buchanan agreed.
"It's because of how we're splitting class now," he said, opting for smaller class sizes in the lowest grades rather than lumping 30-plus kids into the same room. "We've learned that our students seem to perform better when those classes are smaller."
Buchanan and the board agreed to keep working with Kerr 3 and involve the public with another community forum, in the near future, to discuss the firm's findings.
Once a preference is picked from among the three options, Kerr said the firm can start drilling down on specifics. Any bond vote would have to be called by the school board at least two months before election day; Oklahoma has potential election dates throughout the year.
Buchanan pointed out that, unlike recent bond issues in nearby districts, Geary's would be focused entirely on classroom and instruction space.
"This is a bond for learning," he said, "and that's it."