Portable classrooms planned for Geneva High

Geneva High School students could attend some classes in portable rooms next school year.

The school board Monday authorized a letter of intent to buy a used, six-classroom unit from an Oswego firm, if one becomes available and an inspection shows it is in good shape.

The unit would be placed to the south of the high school, on land where a parking lot for Coultrap Elementary School once was.

Buying a used unit is estimated to cost about $500,000. A new one would cost about $700,000. If the school were to buy new ones, it would have to seek bids, Superintendent Kent Mutchler said.

Using portable classrooms is a more cost-efficient, immediate solution than renovating the high school to add classrooms, building them in the dead-ends of certain hallways or over atria, Mutchler said Monday. He also frowns on such renovations, because of the potential to have problems with the heating and ventilation systems, which were not designed for such additional spaces. And such renovations might have to be redone if the high school undergoes a final expansion, as was once planned, according to a written report.

Mutchler told the school board the district is "at least 10 years away" from reconsidering a plan to expand the school. In 2008 the school board discussed an $82 million addition and renovation. It never sought voters' permission to borrow money for such, as the recession hit, the local house-building industry tanked and the expected increase in enrollment did not materialize.

The desire for more classroom space is being driven in part by an increase in course offerings to meet state-mandated requirements, according to Mutchler.

"It is primarily because of the continued additions of offerings we have at our school," he said.

The district also expects enrollment to start increasing, as home construction has resumed.

Studies by a district committee, and by architects it hired, indicate that some rooms are underused and some are overfilled, with the building running at 80 to 119 percent of "operational efficiency." But simply converting the underused ones isn't a solution, according to a memo from Mutchler, because some of them are designed for specific programs, such as home economics, science laboratories, music rooms, gymnasiums and computer laboratories.

The architects suggested converting several computer laboratories to regular classrooms, since the district is moving to outfitting each student with a tablet computer. But the report said the labs are still needed, as students use them to work on projects or to take standardized assessment tests en masse.

The portable classrooms would come with two restrooms and provide 6,048 square feet. Renovating space in the school to add that much would cost at least $1 million, Mutchler said. Other options explored included adding more "early-bird" classes, or revising the lunch schedule to conduct more classes during those periods