MIDDLE SCHOOL EXPANSION DRAWS CONCERNS

It hasn't gotten a lot of attention, but there is a $2.9 million expansion of the Maplewood Middle School being discussed.


News-Record has a good take on it:

The proposed addition was expected to be built some nine years ago, but middle school enrollment began to decline and the project was postponed, said school officials.

However, Maplewood Middle School is projected to have 60 additional students in the 2013-2014 school year, so the project is on again.

“There needs to be a comprehensive review of the plan using today’s sensibility,” argued Reardon, asking school officials whether they had looked into different building proposals for the expansion project, or whether other locations had been sought to accommodate the additional students. “It may have been suitable 10 years ago, but not now,” he said.

In response to Reardon, Beth Daugherty, the school board president, said “budget constraints” are a vital part of the board’s decision to move forward with the expansion project, based on the original plans. She added that it was educationally sound to build an on-site addition rather than to build or expand at another location.

Jim Ruban of Element Architectural Group, the district’s architect, said a review of the 2002 expansion proposal was conducted when school officials decided to move forward with the project. According to Ruban, it is best to build the addition on the west side of Maplewood Middle, near the corner of Maple and Burnet avenues.