Have you ever been so close to something that you cannot see it clearly? Sometimes taking a few steps back helps one to focus. This has been the experience of the Columbus Public Schools’ Board of Education recently. They have been closely examining many options to improve the middle school facility. Every time they look closely at a proposed alternative something just does not look right. Hopefully, taking a step back will help find a solution.

What brought about this change of direction? At the March board meeting, RVW presented conceptual plans, which expanded the current CMS site to accommodate two hundred more students. One rendition gave the view of the property with the current 1924 section remodeled. The second showed it with the 1924 section replaced by a new section to the east.

In both cases, the current site became unacceptably constricted. Already CMS is tightly placed on a 5.75 acre parcel.  This is contrasted with the 25 to 30 acres recommended for a middle school of 800 to 1,000 students. Adding more facility to that site would make the contrast between reality and recommendations even greater.

Exacerbating this problem is the fact that a building expansion to the southeast would close 16th Street. This would force the school to use some of their current property to insure adequate traffic flow. As a result, the available field space would be reduced even further.

It was at this point the school board decided to take a step back and see if there is another solution they just are not seeing. About the same time the Chamber of Commerce asked different city entities to look at the over-all community facility needs and consider joint solutions to some of Columbus’ building shortcomings.

Such entities as the Senior Center, YMCA, the Platte County Ag Society, the hospital, and the Arts Council are looking at addressing their facility needs in different ways. Added to this is the Chamber’s wish to see expanded child care facilities and additional affordable housing.

Many people see Columbus on the verge of expanding and thriving or on the brink of deteriorating and declining through the next two decades. The scenario that unfolds will likely be driven by what is done to address these structural needs.

If the city does nothing to improve facilities, Columbus will not be an attractive place to which people will want to move. The result could be a shrinking labor force and a loss of critical business and industry to the community. Most importantly, this could also lead to a drop in the community’s quality of life.

Taking these dynamics into account, the Columbus Board of Education is contracting with educational consultants. This firm will be helping the district look at their building plans from a higher elevation. Looking at current and future structural needs in the context of other city facility needs will be the goal.

The hope is to partner with other entities so that school solutions could also fit into the plans of other community groups. To help determine this vision for 2020 and beyond, the consultants will be talking with community members, business and industry reps, and other city entities that are major players in helping Columbus grow and prosper.

Please help CPS by giving them your ideas over the next two months. The plan that emerges from this study will be shared with everyone. Hopefully, in addressing some school needs the city can also make some other critical improvements. This will position Columbus to grow and prosper so that when our current kindergarten class graduates from high school in 2020, Columbus will be a city about which we can all be proud and to which many will want to come.

For more information, contact the Webmaster.