Bayfield Elementary School was built back around 1987 with money from a bond issue that passed by 14 votes. So very close bond elections are nothing new in the valley.
Bayfield School District officials are working toward another bond issue in November of 2016 to build a new school for grades 3-5 on district land south of the middle school, as discussed in the Oct. 16 Times, along with major work at the elementary school to handle ever-growing numbers of kids in kindergarten through second grade.
The district will hold a community meeting to present these plans on Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 5:30 p.m. in the Bayfield Early Primary School (BEPS) cafeteria, next to the old gym on South Street.
The school board will get more detailed plans for these projects at their Oct. 27 meeting.
Project manager Marty Zwisler described the BES plans to the board on Oct. 13. He started with safety issues when parents are dropping off and picking up students, especially when it involves younger kids.
"There are things we'll have to do to accommodate the younger age groups," he said. "Parents stack up (in their vehicles), kids running across traffic. We want to remove all that activity from the front (west side) of the building." He showed a new drop-off area on the east side at the south end of the building, with access from Clover Drive. There would be no parking, just pick-up and drop-off in a turnaround circle much like the bus loop at the north end of the school.
The playground would be improved and fenced to keep kids closer to the school, Zwisler said.
Plans include building additions and a major reconfiguration of the south half of the upstairs classroom area.
All the classrooms in the south half of the upstairs would be kindergarten, Zwisler said. "We have to add bathrooms. These rooms are already too small," he said. "We need to reconfigure them so they are larger and have bathrooms. We need to add at the south end another classroom to make up the difference of larger rooms." He clarified that it would be a two-story addition.
Superintendent Troy Zabel said the school would have seven sections of kindergarten. Those rooms will be bigger than the other classrooms.
Zwisler continued that first grade classrooms will be in the middle upstairs, and second grade at the north end. There will be another addition at the north end above a previous ground floor addition. There also will be a new library addition on the east side. It will have windows on three sides.
Yet another one story addition is being considered just west of the administration offices. The current offices are too small, and there are a lot of security issues, Zwisler said.
Various things in the school don't meet code, including the front stairway by the office. The stairs will be moved, and they will have shorter risers for younger kids. "It didn't meet standards when it was built," he said. "We'd be foolish to leave those steps as they are."
He continued, "We'd like to move the cafeteria west wall farther out. That's something we'll look at in the costing."
Planning also includes what to do at BEPS once the kindergarten and first graders move to BES. The old 1924 school would be used for storage, Zwisler said. The newer classroom and office area is being considered for district administration offices, including new bathrooms, technology space, and a dedicated space for school board meetings.
"We really have a good solid building here. Some of this is driven by the requirements when we do a remodel like this. They will determine how feasible this is. We hope to know in the next few weeks," Zwisler said.
The modular classrooms could become a district preschool, he said.
