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Merrimack School District
Planning & Building Committee

Minutes of the July 7, 1998 Meeting





Present: S. Heinrich, D. Miller, M. Morrison, W. Morrison, B. Triolo, T. Koenig (arrived late), and J. Flis, School Board liaison.

S. Heinrich called the meeting to order at 7:10 P.M. and announced that the meeting would not run later than 10 P.M. He told the committee the only item of business was a work session to prepare a draft of the final report on Merrimack High School space needs. He noted that the committee recommendations would be presented at the School Board meeting on July 20, 1998. The final report needs to be approved and printed, ready to be mailed to the School Board, by July 17, 1998.

S. Heinrich offered his opinions on the addition. He stated the addition should include the nurse's office near the outside entrance for easy access/egress. He wants to addition to be three stories and all spaces to be built for flexible usage. He suggested that the some additional rooms be plumbed for potential future science labs. He also felt that the option of including office space in the addition for the superintendent should be explored.

D. Miller shared his suggestion of an alternate location for an addition. He suggested 2,000 square feet of space be added to accommodate the superintendent's offices. He felt that temporary office space for the superintendent and staff could be a trailer with a one year lease. He asked about the addition having a basement instead of being three stories above ground. The need for a three story elevator was discussed in relation to A.D.A. needs.

J. Flis stated that the committee needs to determine what size addition will be needed to meets the space needs. M. Morrison suggested that the committee should look at square footage instead of number of classrooms. W. Morrison cautioned the committee to remember that total square footage for classrooms would not be the same as total square footage of the addition because of things like restrooms, corridors and walls.

The following potential time table was noted:

The committee turned to demographics and looked at the New Hampshire School Boards/Michener report from September, 1997. It was noted that Merrimack seems to be tracking very closely to the Three Year Weighted Average Progression Ratios. By consensus, the committee decided the addition should meet school district needs until 2004. The report projections for grades 9-12 in the year 2004 are as follows:

These three figures average to 1717. S. Heinrich reminded the committee that Mr. O'Neil had suggested that the addition should accommodate 1700 students. M. Morrison stated that 12 classrooms for 250 additional students met just future needs and was a very conservative approach. J. Flis suggested the committee decide how many classrooms and ask Keyes to give a square foot total. S. Heinrich suggested that any recommendation should include 1,000 square foot of storage to meet current and future needs. He re-iterated that all space built should be designed to be flexible.

The committee turned to specific department needs using NH Code of Administrative Rules, Merrimack High School Building Capacity Worksheet - Recommended Capacities, PBC Preliminary Report, Merrimack High School Space Needs Report and the 1998-99 Program of Studies. The committee agreed to use "recommended capacity" figures as a base line so that the school will have room to grow to "acceptable capacity" figures if needed.

Summary of Discussion:

Art: Sixteen percent of student currently take art. Mr. Walker had reported that over 200 students were turned away and that freshmen cannot take art. Using 5% for allowing freshmen to take art, approximately 365 students might take art in 2004. The committee noted each room should be 1200 square foot. Current need: 2 classrooms, Future need: 1 classroom.
Business/Computer: No additional space is needed at present.
Family and Consumer Sciences: Possibility of physically locating all classes together was mentioned. Current need: Additional storage.
English: Thirty-eight classes are at or above maximum class size which is 50% of all English classes. Several course offerings have been deleted due to space, including Journalism which is the class that is responsible for a school newspaper. Storage room impacted by vent duct work and is at capacity. Current need: 1.5 classrooms and 100 square foot storage, Future need: 2 classrooms. (T. Koenig arrived during this discussion and was appraised of prior discussions.)
Foreign Language: Five classes are at or above maximum class size. Storage space is needed. Current need: Storage space. Future: 1 classroom.
Guidance: Suggest that entire department be relocated/rebuilt/retro- fitted in new area that is secure for sound and approximately 50% larger.
Health/Physical Education and Music: P.E. department needs additional storage and adequate office space for department head and athletic director. The committee felt that 2000-2500 square feet of additional space for use by Health/P.E. department was needed. Possibly the exercise/weight room could be relocated. If a new auditorium is approved, the committee suggested that filling in the Little Theater for use as an exercise/weight room. In conjunction with this, the committee also thought that possibly the band room could be expanded by taking over the stage area in the Little Theater. If an auditorium is not proposed or does not pass, the committee suggested as an alternates, expanding band room into stage area with movable wall, using C-129 for an exercise room and making C-127 the chorus room OR putting the entire music department in the addition.
Math: Twenty-six classes are above capacity. Storage is needed. It was noted that math, English, Foreign Language, etc can be taught in "regular" or "multi-use" classrooms. Current need: 0.5 classroom and storage. Future need: 1.5 classrooms.
Science: The committee noted previous discussions which suggested 2 classrooms for current need (1 Biology and 1 Chemistry) and 2 for future need. They will suggest that additional new science classrooms be built in the addition so that some of the current science labs can be used by other departments. They noted the following: 80% of all science classes are at or above capacity and eight of the eleven current science labs have a capacity of 17 or less students. Secure chemical storage space and storage space between labs seems to be adequate. Current need: 2 classrooms. Future need: 2 classrooms.
Social Studies: The committee noted that minimum square foot requirements per student in Social Studies classrooms is forty rather than thirty-five which is used for English, Math and Foreign Languare. Thirty two classes are at or above capacity. Current need: 1 classroom. Future need: 1 classroom
Special Education: There is a need for a separate Physical Therapy/ Occupational Therapy room. The PASS room needs to be enlarged. The conference room used by the department is no where near any of the other special education areas. There is a need for additional office/teacher areas. The committee hoped that additional classrooms would free up current special education areas that were originally storage areas so they could revert to their intended uses. The committee also noted the impossibility of trying to determine how many students the department might have to service. Current need: 2-3 classrooms which can be sub-divided as needed. Future need: The committee felt that future needs cannot be projected.
Technology: Storage is the main issue. The committee discussed the number of classes that actually use the Woods and Metals labs. They discussed the fact that much of the equipment in the labs is big, bulky and not easily moved. Also brought up was the T.V. studio/communication center that has been proposed. The committee suggested possibly combining the Metal/Woods lab. They also suggested using E-112 for the T.V. studio because it is nearer a main entrance.

S. Heinrich noted that is was past 10 P.M. By concensus, the committee decided to continue discussion at the next meeting. D. Miller asked that core facilities like cafeteria, nurse's office, library, boiler/maintenance and general office space be discussed at the next meeting. W. Morrison noted that the committee has suggested, exclusive of storage and Guidance, a total of 8-9 classrooms for current and 8.5+ classrooms to meet future need.

On a motion from W. Morrison, seconded by M. Morrison, the commmittee unanimously voted to adjourn at 10:20 P.M.


Planning & Building Committee
Merrimack School District

Last Updated: August 30, 1998 by Wayne Morrison