Committee members tour Riverview to learn more about maintenance & security
Wautoma Areas School District stakeholders were given a detailed tour of Riverview Elementary School during the second Facilities Planning Community Impact Committee Meeting (CIC) on February 19. The tour provided an opportunity for CIC Members to see the deferred maintenance needs and the condition of the elementary school firsthand.
Four tour groups led by representatives of the Wautoma Area School District, Plunkett Raysich Architects, LLP (PRA), and CG Schmidt were able to view the cafeteria/gymnasium, library, conference room, typical classrooms, outside connection to the EC/4K wing, main entry, administrative offices, various classrooms, and the art and music rooms. At each of the stops along the way, the CIC was able to hear about how the students and staff currently make the entire school day work using the spaces provided.
While touring the cafeteria/gymnasium, tour guides explained there is limited communication and access to the PA system in the gym; the floor is cracked as it is 15+ years past its life expectancy; the temperature is often cold due to the lack of insulation; and the room functions for eating and physical education. According to WASD Administration, the cafeteria/gymnasium drives the entire school’s schedule as students are served breakfast and lunch and the space may have to be converted up to six times per day from a cafeteria to a gymnasium.
In the library, space is limited for adequate programming and a meeting space as the traffic flow inside is an issue as staff and students need to walk through the library to visit the rooms. Accessing the only conference room in the building can also prove difficult to meet with visitors as they have to walk halfway across the school to meet in this space, and can prove to be a challenge depending on the context of the meeting, according to WASD Administration.
CIC members made a stop at a Kindergarten classroom and found out each classroom seats about 20 students, and temperature regulation has become a challenge as all of the rooms in the Kindergarten/First Grade Hallway start out very hot in the morning and then level off in the afternoon. The set up of the classroom also does not allow for collaborative group work and several of the classrooms have band-aid fixes for leaks coming from the roof.
While visiting the Early Childhood/4-Year-Old Kindergarten Wing, the tour guides stated it can take the littlest learners over 15 minutes to get students from one end of the building to the other for physical education and lunch at the beginning of the year; however, by mid-year, the teachers and aides have been able to get the time down to under five minutes one way. The 4K also has to travel through the main secure entryway to access all academic functions. According to WASD Administration, the work around is having the 4K students walk through the main office, which slows them down as they move around visitors, say hi to the staff, and navigate additional doors.
Most special education services for Riverview students are currently located where the 1960s gymnasium was housed. Services are largely centralized on the north side of the building with no access to natural daylight, and the Speech Language Pathologist is located in an old locker room. In order to access a space utilized as an office or small group space, staff have to walk through the OT/PT Room as well as a classroom where students with significantly dis-regulated behaviors may be working.
As the tours made it to the atrium, CIC members viewed posters of maintenance needs they would otherwise not see due to their location, including the plumbing, roof, and exterior issues with the building. While stopping in the atrium, the tours were also able to learn about the playground, which hasn’t been repaved since the 1990s. The playground is also missing age appropriate equipment for Kindergarten and First Grade students, and with the sloping of the playground and the surrounding White River Flood Plain, there is a significant decrease in the availability of green space for students to use in the spring and fall.
Prior to the tour, discussions were held regarding the future of Wautoma Area School District and the strategic plan administration put forth this school year as the district looks towards the future. District Administrator Jewel Mucklin spoke to over 30 CIC participants about the two-year strategic plan that aligns with Focus 2025, detailing how the district remains focused on climate and culture, student growth and achievement, facilities and operations, and staff development and engagement.
Mucklin stated the district is focused on having collaborative partnerships through positive customer service providing quality education for students and families; is striving to increase proficiencies and advancements on state English Language and Mathematics assessments by 20 percent regardless of the student’s level; be fiscally sustainable and responsibility with funding that is provided by taxpayers and state aid, and continually looking how to be more efficient with revenue within the community; and providing quality education through quality educators.
Mucklin said when she took over from the role of Riverview principal to superintendent, there was collaboration between buildings; however, there seemed like a disjointment between goals and pathways; however, since the beginning of the year she has worked to articulate that we are one district all striving towards common goal although the measures to achieve may differ.
Following information on the WASD Strategic Plan, Mucklin and Riverview Elementary School Principal Alex Kitchner spoke to the CIC regarding the evolving needs and changes in education. In today’s classrooms, teachers are focused on providing students 21st Century Skills, including Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics, as well as soft skills such as communication, critical thinking, and problem solving. Kitcher said due to the age of the building, there are restrictions on how Riverview classrooms can be utilized as well as providing support systems and transitions throughout the school day. With increased student mental health and behavioral needs, spaces to regroup are reduced to one space located within the office. Therefore, staff members are working to guide students to the office which can take a long time and be a disruption for other learning environments depending on where in the building the student may be located.
With Riverview Elementary built in the 1960s, significant pieces of legislation came through from the federal government after the building was already built, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Kitchner stated as the community toured the building, they would notice some areas in the school are not ADA compliant and spaces in the school are no longer being utilized as what they were initially designed for. “This is a huge testament to our staff and the creativity to serve students,” he said.
Riverview Elementary Assistant Principal Sarah Pietkauskis spoke to the community members regarding the Vision for Learning and the spaces that need to be more friendly for students and provide more areas to collaborate and work as a team. By providing these spaces, Pietkauskis said it allows for all students to grow and learn no matter what their circumstances may be.
Looking ahead, Mucklin spoke to the CIC regarding what the District has done with the feedback they have received at the previous meeting in January. She stated the Board of Education has approved facility and educational space adequacy studies in the spring for Redgranite Elementary, Parkside School, and Wautoma High School to be completed in the spring. Even though the District still believes Riverview Elementary is the priority at this time, these studies will provide information regarding what other constraints there are at other schools as well as a long-range plan for facilities maintenance.
Mucklin also added safety and security continues to be a top priority for the CIC as well as the District. During the three school’s facilities assessment to be completed in the coming months, CG Schmidt will be looking at safety and security as well as all of the interior and exteriors of the buildings, stated Justin Johnson, CG Schmidt Project Manager. The studies will provide the district with priority levels of things that need to be completed, from one to two years as priorities; two to five years as mid-level; and how to upgrade the facilities over the next 10 years as a way to provide a long-range facilities plan for the entire district, Johnson explained.
PRA Architect Devin Kack explained more about Riverview Elementary School building and site history during his portion of the presentation. He stated after completing the educational adequacy study for Riverview in 2022, PRA found there is a need for more collaborative classrooms; flexible and adaptive classrooms; areas for interventions and support as well as special education; a separate gym and commons/cafeteria space; and professional workspace for staff.
Kack said the site layout of Riverview won’t change and therefore there becomes issue with the current building location, including: property constraints; the White River Flood Plain; the residential parcels of land in front of the school; traffic patterns and the safety of pickup and drop off; bussing by the main entrance; the slopped nature of the site causing the playground to become icy and dangerous.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the committee members were given an opportunity to provide feedback to the District as well as what types of information they need in order to answer questions from the community. The next meeting of the WASD Community Impact Committee will be held on March 18 at Parkside School.