As the number of students at area schools continues to rise, the school board must decide whether to build another high school over the next few years or add to the existing one.  A facilities representative from the state’s department of education spoke to the board last week about the financial aspects of building a new high school.  According to Jack Mullis, the state appropriates more money to local boards to build onto an existing school than it does to construct a brand new facility. The question, however, is how big do you want a school to be?  Mullis said he has seen mega high schools with 5,000 students but a model high school, he said, has around 1,200 students.  “With 1,200 students you have the optimum variances in the curriculum and the number of classes kids can get into is the best,” he said. “At that level, supervision is fine but as the population grows supervision becomes more difficult. You have to decide what size your schools are going to be - you’re at a critical juncture here.”  Population trends indicate that by 2007 - 2008 there will be around 4,654 students in local schools, up from the 4,039 at the end of the 2003 school year.  In grades 9-12 there were 1,163 students enrolled in 2003 and Mullis expects 1,340 by the end of 2008, an increase of 177 students.  Based on the state’s student to teacher ratio, the high school, just seven years old, is already lacking 14 classrooms.  The estimated cost to build a new high school, excluding land acquisition and infrastructure expenses, is $15.8 million. The state’s portion would be $9.1 million while local taxpayers would pay $6.6 million of the construction.  There is, Mullis said, something called a “local fair share” which by law can range between eight and 20 percent of construction costs. Pickens County, being deemed an “affluent” county, he said, must pay the maximum.  “Pickens County’s is 20 percent which says you

are a well-off county,” he said.  With the added 20 percent, local taxpayers portion of a new high school would jump to around $8.4 million.  If the board decided to add the 14 additional classrooms to the existing high school, the state estimates the cost would be around $2.5 million, with the state paying all but the local fair share of 20 percent.  “You are short at the high school by 14 instructional units, by state standards,” Mullis said. “Realistically you’re probably shorter than that because most schools don’t run exactly as the formulas set by the state. Based on my experience when you see a shortage of 14 (classrooms) you are actually shorter than that.”  The state has developed a way to help local systems through “advance funding.” When a project, such as a new high school, is listed on the state’s advance funding list, that school system receives a secure loan from the state. Each year the system can use their entitlement earnings from the state to pay back the loan. The Pickens County school system currently has over $1 million (on the books) that can be applied to projects.  “That is money you have banked now (on the state’s books),” Mullis said.  Superintendent Lee Shiver said his concern is that schools can get too big if you keep adding on classrooms without other infrastructure support.  “One of the things we worry about is when you add on classrooms to a school where it’s impossible to add onto the kitchen/ cafeteria or auditoriums then you run into problems. I’ve heard of schools where lunch starts at 10 a.m.”  Mullis said if Pickens County continues to grow at its current rate, we will likely need a new high school in five years. Mullis recommended that the board update its five-year facilities plan to include a new high school so the system can earn more state funding. He assured board members that updating the plan to include a high school does not mean they are obligated to actually build the school.