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Here are highlights of Monday (October 26) night's meeting of the Board of Education: |
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1. Roger Holland of the Holland and Hamrick architectural firm gave the public its first view of plans for the new Shelby Middle School that is to be built on a 58-acre site on South DeKalb Street at Melrose Drive, about a mile south of Shelby High. Mr. Holland said the school will be about 140,000 square feet and have Silver L.E.E.D. (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification recognizing its natural lighting, high heating/air efficiency, water management system, site development, indoor air quality and acoustics, and alternative transportation methods. The two-story school, he said, will be designed as a "smart" facility using the latest technology to control many operations including the heating/cooling, security and telephone systems. Classroom lighting will be controlled with a sensor system that keeps an appropriate level based on the outdoor light level. Translucent skylights also will be used throughout other areas of the school. Mr. Holland praised the input of student, teacher, staff and community focal groups, saying they dramatically shaped the school's final plans. He and his staff also have consulted with local and state transportation officials, NCDPI school planning personnel and CISCO "smart" planners among others. Since 10 acres of the campus will remain natural to preserve a creek that runs through the property, Mr. Holland said his staff consulted with the NC Arboretum and Clearwater Environmental agencies in Asheville in their site preparation. The campus also includes baseball, softball, football/soccer fields and tennis courts - each with its own parking area. Mr. Holland said the school's primary entrance and student drop-off area will be at South DeKalb Street with the potential of 200-car stacking space. The bus entrance will be off Melrose Drive; however, the school design calls for all students - including car and bus riders - to enter near the same area. He said a major feature of the proposed Shelby Middle School plan is that no student will have to go outdoors or cross a street to change class. The school plan also includes multiple entrances and parking availability for teachers and after-hour event parking near the gym, theater and cafeteria. Other features of the first floor: The second floor also includes classroom wings for seventh and eighth-graders with stairs and elevators. Every classroom has a storage/office room and every two classrooms share a small resource/conference room. Each wing of each floor has a teachers' resource room and faculty bathrooms so teachers do not have to go far from their classrooms. Mr. Holland said plans are designed so that additional classrooms may be added to each wing in the future if needed. Core capacity spaces of the cafeteria, media center, gym. etc. are large enough to accommodate those additions. While he expects that the plans will fall well within the projected budget, Mr.Holland showed an alternate plan to cut about 12,000 square feet (the theater area) if necessary. Before unveiling a color rendering of the school, Mr. Holland said his staff wanted to design a structure that would stand the test of time and preserve the heritage of Shelby Middle. Asked about a construction timeline for the project, Mr. Holland said he hopes grading will begin within 30 to 40 days. The school possibly could open in the fall of 2011 or early in 2012, he said. Superintendent Bruce Boyles thanked all focus groups and staff involved in the planning process and in particular, Asst. Supt. John Yarbro, for his work with the project. He announced Nov. 22nd as a tentative date for a ground-breaking ceremony. He and board members also expressed thanks to the county commissioners - several of whom were present at last night's meeting - for their financial commitment to the school's construction. Board members praised the plans and presentation and unanimously approved the site plans. (Site plans are displayed on the Cleveland County Schools' home page at www.clevelandcountyschools.org |
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