The Clinton Board of Education held another community engagement meeting last night, which focused on the conceptual designs of the new elementary building.

Close to 50 community members showed up in the high school commons area to voice their opinions of the new building. Clinton Board of Education members sat in on the discussions to hear what community members had to say but also to answer any questions. Of all of the things most of the community members found attractive about the new building was the flow of buses and also traffic in front of the building. The Architect of the building Craig Welter explained to those in attendance the design was intentional to make entrances and exits more accessible for both buses and vehicles.

[audio:engagementresponse1.mp3]A Word From Welter[/audio]

Much of the discussion also came from the size of various portions of the rooms throughout the building. Many citizens voiced suggestions in perhaps eliminating multiple rooms and combing class spaces. However, President of the Board of Education Buck Carter says you have to allow for growth in the school district. He says it is cheaper to build bigger up front than to try to add on in the future.

[audio:engagementresponse2.mp3]A Word From Carter[/audio]

The other area of discussion was the size of the gym. The conceptual design allowed for a gym space with two full size IHSA regulation basketball courts. Board member John Blythe believes that amount of space may be a little unnecessary for an elementary building. He says he would rather base the size of the gymnasium on need rather than want.

[audio:engagementresponse3.mp3]A Word From Blythe[/audio]

As a whole the community found the conceptual design very appealing. Many had a hard time finding anything they wanted improved. The biggest reaction was to the flow of traffic to and from and classroom size and also storage space allowed in the building. The Board of Education will now begin to look over the response from the community to find ways adjust the building to fit into the budget the school has. The Board stresses the goal of the whole project is to make the building a reality without raising the taxes of the district.