Last month, the Highland Park ISD school board met with architects to publicly discuss how to plan for unprecedented growth in Park Cities schools, and Tuesday night, they started discussing potential cost and timelines.

Enrollment in the district hovers just over 7,000—the highest it has ever been—and HPISD is expected to keep growing, even while every school in the district is beyond its functional capacity.

At the work session, board members heard a presentation from SHW Group architect Jonathan Aldis that included an expanded version of the options he offered at the November meeting, plus several more to mull over.

Questions proposed Tuesday ran the gamut: should HPISD reject the idea to expand each of the four elementary schools so that they fit 770 students? Is there a one-size-fits-all model for the schools, which are each uniquely designed with different footprints? Should the district tear down the schools and start over, displacing hundreds of students? And—the looming question—how much money should they spend on the expansions?

Aldis put forward a couple of new options last night, each one an expansion of the architectural firm’s two foundational ideas presented in November:

1. Expand every school in the district, based on the suggestions presented here. This would be the cheapest option and wouldn’t require any new buildings to be constructed; however, it wouldn’t allow for much wiggle room over the next ten-plus years.
2. Build a kindergarten center, leave the elementary schools as they are and do the necessary additions to the middle and high schools. This option leaves the district with a total capacity of nearly 8,500, but that might not be enough if HPISD continues to grow.

Among his new ideas, Aldis said the district could decide to forgo the kindergarten center and instead build an entirely new elementary school to better balance student populations at Hyer, Armstrong, Bradfield and University Park.

One way HPISD could create more educational space for its students would be to build the kindergarten center and expand each elementary school to fit 770 students, putting fifth graders back into elementary and converting HPMS/MIS to a 6^th-8^th facility.

The final option presented by Aldis is what he called “everything but the kitchen sink.” This would involve building an all-new kindergarten center and elementary school, as well as adding onto each existing elementary school and making MIS/HPMS for 6^th-8^th graders only. Additionally, Highland Park High School would be added onto. Naturally, this being the most aggressive undertaking, it would leave the district with plenty of room to grow—but the cost would be approximately $74 million (Aldis noted that the figures were rough and subject to change).

Board member James Hitzelberger asked the board to consider among all the options what would be the best use of educational space.

“Would it be better learning-wise for our kids?” he said.

Then came an entirely new discussion. If HPISD decides to expand the elementary schools, should they simply add on or demolish the buildings and start over? While tradition is valued within the district, in several cases building a completely new school would ultimately give the Park Cities more green space.

“If we’re building a new footprint, what are we actually gaining?” Kelly Walker wondered, as talk of displacing students began.

James Hitzelberger said it might eventually be worth the inconvenience, though.

“It looks to me like we’re purchasing back millions of dollars worth of property,” he said—an incredibly valuable asset within the Park Cities.

According to SHW Group, construction at the high school would be extensive, particularly for athletic facilities. Proposals include doubling the size of the football/soccer/track stadium and building a new press box, a project that could cost around $20 million.

There was also talk of significantly expanding the natatorium from 7,000 to 20,000 square feet, as well as adding onto the outdoor tennis courts, softball and baseball fields, and repositioning athletic programs completely.

The next work session for the school board and SHW Group is slated for Jan. 21, 2014 in the MIS 5/6 Assembly Room, where district officials will continue to discuss the best options for accommodating growth in HPISD. Anyone is welcome. 

Additionally, HPISD spokeswoman Helen Williams said the district is "tentatively planning to have another facilities work session Jan. 7."

To read more background on some of the proposed school expansions, click here.