Citizen group narrows Fremont High School choices to two

After seeking community comments about four proposed locations for a new Fremont High School facility, a citizens committee has narrowed its focus to two choices, one of the original options and a new one.

For the past 10 months, the Finding the Future in Fremont Committee has been assessing the Fremont community’s feelings about four locations for a proposed new high school. Last Tuesday, they narrowed their list to two.

After a meeting with the county fair board Wednesday, the list was narrowed yet again, to one of the original options and a new one that came up at the committee’s Tuesday meeting.

Committee chair and local attorney David Byrne described the new option as “a blend between the fairground property, which so many people supported, and the middle school property, which was also high on the list of a lot of the people we surveyed.”

The new option would involve purchasing property from Wagenmaker Farms. The property runs east to west between the county fairgrounds and Fremont Middle School.

Any property purchase would be contingent upon school board approval for a bond vote and community support of the bond, said Dr. John Kingsnorth, Fremont schools superintendent.

The committee is expected to make its final recommendation to the Board of Education in December.

At the Tuesday meeting, the citizens committee voted unanimously to narrow the site prospect list to the fairgrounds and the middle school property, eliminating from consideration properties west of the high school and adjacent to the Newaygo County Career Tech Center.

It was at this point that discussion turned to the new possibility of purchasing land adjacent to the middle school, Byrne said.

“We’ve been aware that the county fair board might have difficulty financing new fair grounds if they sold their property,” Byrne explained. “That’s what sparked the new idea.”

That proved to be the case on Wednesday night when fair board officials met with members of the citizens committee and Fremont school officials.

“It just wasn’t financially feasible for them,” said Kingsnorth.

More than 40 people attended the citizens committee meeting on Tuesday when the site options were addressed.

Committee members reviewed data collected from a number of sources: public forums, online surveys, interviews at area restaurants and township meetings, with employees at Nestle-Gerber and the Tamarac fitness center, and “numerous face-to-face discussions,” Byrne said.

He added that the effort made contact with “at least 1,500 people.”

Sentiment was overwhelmingly in favor of the fairgrounds or middle school sites, he said.

Byrne said that the idea of expanding the middle school site by purchasing the Wagenmaker property “really is a good way to bring the two best sites together.”

“The committee members were very enthusiastic about the proposal,” he said.

“The most important thing is that we want people know this idea is being considered, that we just started considering it, and that we will continue to take input from the community,” Byrne said.

The chairman said that committee members will also talk with city and Sheridan Township officials.

“We want to be totally open, transparent and honest,” Byrne said. “We listened to public input and comments, we talked to the fair board, and we have what we feel is a good compromise/solution to consider.”

Byrne said a new high school is the committee’s highest priority for recommended improvements for the school district’s facilities.

“The current high school has served us well over the years, but we’ve simply outgrown it,” he said.

Byrne’s committee has been sharing its “Future of Fremont” presentation with citizen gatherings. For example, nearly 50 Fremont area residents gathered at the Sheridan Township Hall on Oct. 16 to listen to the committee’s presentation. Another 75 people attended a similar presentation held at Fremont High School on Oct. 20.

Byrne led the presentations, which were aimed at bringing a proposal for a new high school to the ballot in May of 2009. Byrne explained the formation of the committee, how the committee came to focus on a new high school and reported on the committee’s progress has been.

Bryne said that proposed sites were examined for safety, educational opportunities, cost, ability to meet the future needs of students, economic impact, attractiveness to those seeking to move their businesses or their familiesto the community, and community support.

Byrne also offered an idea of the tax cost for the new building. He said that a home owner of a property worth $100,000 would pay $180 more in school taxes. He added that that number would not increase or decrease if the proposed bond was between $30 million and $50 million. What would change would be the duration of the bond.

Mick Hanna also addressed the audiences, talking about safety and other reasons a new high school is needed. He noted the current building’s issues with handling special needs students. Examples included carrying handicapped children down stairs when the power goes out. He noted that the high school has only one handicap accessible restroom in the building, located far away from the academic part of the building.

Hanna also pointed to issues with the heating and cooling of the building, the small size of the classrooms, the limited technology, and the congested nature of the hallways. The audience was offered a comparison between what new classrooms would look like versus the current Fremont High School classrooms. The presentation concluded with questions from the community and a short survey.

Byrne and Hanna said that the overall message of the program is one of “community building.” They said that Fremont has the ability to bring in new jobs and new residents as a result of investing in its edu cational infrastructure. They said that this community initiative could help stop the falling property values and slowing local economy.

They also said that the committee is working on plans for converting the present facility to new uses.

More information about the Future of Fremont initiative is available from David Byrne at 28 W. Main, Suite E in downtown Fremont. Information is also available online at www.futureoffremont.com.

11/5/2008 Times Indicator Article (p. 1&2) Times Indicator
Fremont Public School News