The design for a proposed 15,000 square foot addition to DeKalb West School was unveiled Saturday morning during a school board workshop meeting. A $1.8 million FEMA grant application will be filed on behalf of the school system, which if approved would fund most of the project with the rest, about $600,000 to be paid for locally.
The new construction is designed to be built in the front of the existing school.
David Brown of Kaatz, Binkley, Jones & Morris Architects of Mount Juliet updated Director of Schools Mark Willloughby and members of the Board of Education on the project which includes eight “safe rooms”to relieve overcrowding and to shelter students, school staff, and the general public in times of severe weather. County Mayor Mike Foster and several members of the county commission also attended Saturday’s workshop along with other school personnel.
Twenty three million dollars is available to eligible applicants under the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant program. During a special called meeting in December, the Board of Education voted to pay KBJM Architects, Inc. a total of $7,500 to prepare a design for the project and to pay Lashlee-Rich, Inc. of Humbolt $7,500 to prepare cost estimates and for the grant writing.
Under this FEMA grant program, the school system could apply for up to three million dollars for this project with the federal government paying 75% of the cost, if approved. The state would pay 12.5% leaving the local share at 12.5%. Any further costs related to construction not covered by the FEMA grant, including furnishing classrooms, would be funded locally. “We are proposing the addition in the front of the school,” said Brown. We have eight classrooms, restrooms, a new secure entrance, an office, clinic, conference room, guidance and teacher work area all in that corridor. A janitors closet would be in the room where the generator will go. That is the addition we are proposing to meet these federal standards,” said Brown.
According to Brown, the proposed new addition would not only provide more classroom space and better shelter in the event of storms, but it would make the school more secure. “Its going to be more secure,” said Brown. “Once the addition is done, when I visit the school, I’ll go into the vestibule. These doors are going to be locked. The only place I can go is into the main office and from there into the rest of the school. Whereas, right now I can walk in and go wherever I want to go,” he said.
“We’re designing this for (to withstand) a 250 mile per hour wind with debris and projectiles going that fast. So all of that construction is going to be beefed up to meet those standards. Obviously constructing a building that way is much more expensive than just your run of the mill construction. That’s why the grant is there. There’s no way anybody could afford to do this just on their own initiative. The grant is crucial to this,” said Brown.
“The construction manager is taking a look at this design and putting together a line item materials and labor budget that will back up how much we’re going to ask for (grant application). We can include all of those construction estimate items that the construction manager is coming up with. In addition we can include architect fees, the geo-technical report, and a lot of the soft costs can be rolled into this grant request as well. It is the most robust inclusive program you are ever going to come across. We’re working on the grant application right now. It is due March 1,” said Brown.
“Those (grant) applications go to the state hazard mitigation officer. (They) will spend about two weeks reviewing the applications prioritizing and ranking. If there is money there, then everything goes through. School projects are kind of a slam dunk. The reason they are is because they are protecting so many people per dollar that is spent. They require us to do a benefit cost analysis to go with this. So I can’t go ask them for a million dollars and I’m only protecting twenty people. Here we’re probably going to be asking for upwards of $1.8 million and protecting the entire school and all the staff,” said Brown.
Once approved for the grant, Brown said the school system has up to three years to spend it.
Although a new larger DWS cafeteria and kitchen does not qualify under the FEMA grant as school officials had hoped, the architects have included in the design an expansion of the existing dining area. “I’m showing about a 30% increase in the cafeteria space. This will increase the core of this campus up to about 600 students,” said Brown.
DeKalb West School, which opened in 1974, was built for 320 students. The current enrollment is 445 plus faculty and staff. To relieve overcrowding, a portable with two classrooms is currently located on the campus. In times of storms, officials say the general public would be welcome to take shelter with students and school staff in the safe rooms, which could accommodate up to one thousand individuals.
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