Gwyn Gittens

The school board has approved phase 2A of the Veterans Park Academy for the Arts renovation, a $17,693,271 project.

That price tag includes design services, total construction costs, ancillary cost, offsite development cost, furniture, fixtures, equipment  (FF&E) and technology. The commencement date for the construction phase was set to begin Monday.

A great deal of discussion was had about Veterans Park Academy for the Arts at last week’s briefing meeting, which stemmed around asking staff about renaming the old Lehigh Acres Middle School campus, as well as how the renovated school will be branded.

As it currently stands, the old LAMS campus is now part of Veterans Park Academy for the Arts.

“I’m very disappointed in this whole project,” Board member Gwyn Gittens said. “I really am. We have heard from parents and people at the school that they are concerned about separating the school. Why don’t you just leave VPAA as is and do a middle school?”

She said phase one of the project took place in August of the past year as 1,400 students were moved from the old LAMS campus to the new LAMS campus, which only has 1,200 seats. Gittens said the “extra” kids were sent to VPAA, which then led to moving fourth and fifth grade students to the old LAMS building. 

“It is just too much. Then you have the whole staging school behind Lehigh Senior that has sat empty all year. Why couldn’t they take the extra kids, put them in there and fix this school right? Initially it was HVAC and changing this and that. Every time we hear it is less because of the timing. What is the rush?” Gittens asked.

Scott Reichenbacher, construction project management director, said originally at the very beginning of this project two years ago they were going to put $4 million into the LAMS school for paint and carpet. With more direction it was asked to do a real update, which increased the renovation to $12.7 million for the old LAMS building.

At last Monday briefing meeting he told the board it’s their call if they approve the second phase, but he encouraged them to do so, so they could have kids in seats by the start of school on Aug. 10.

“There are lots of ways to change material and products,” Reichenbacher said of shortages on material. “I can tell you with the team we have accessibility. We can get there. Time is of the essence. I can understand your frustration. I get the football and I am running with the football to have children with seats. It’s the last minute 59 and I’m trying to throw that hail Mary.”

Gittens said they desperately need seats in the East Zone and that urgency comes on Jan. 17 when school choice opens. She said if they open up school choice without explaining that middle school is not completed they are not giving the community an opportunity.

“We give the community an opportunity to number one, name that school as all other schools in the district has had the opportunity. We have a process, plan, policy as how it goes. That would be the second time in less than two years that the community has not had the same opportunity as everyone else. The new LAMS school, it was named and set and this is what it is going to go. The board didn’t vote on it, the community didn’t have the input,” Gittens said. “I would like to suggest that based on all the comments on everyone that we have talked to, it’s overwhelming they want their school to stay as it is. They want a K through 8. Why can’t we leave Veterans Park Academy as a K-8 and have the school in the back be a middle school?”

Gittens said the draw with school choice is to start the old LAMS school, a middle school, at the same time as VPAA.

Superintendent Dr. Ken Savage explained during the Jan. 11 action meeting that while the renovation work had to occur for the LAMS campus, when the prior LAMS facility was moved off the site to the new building, the space that was left, the old, or prior LAMS campus could no longer be associated to the new facility.

“It was consolidated as useful educational space to the current Veterans campus. Technically all of that space, it would all be referenced as Veterans Park campus. That doesn’t mean that stays that way. As the school goes through the master plan process it involves a number of folks as how to try to best utilize that facility. There is some major renovation work that has to occur since it is an older campus,” he said.

Savage said when the current campus left and moved to another site, those seats still had to be reflective in their inventory as educational seats and that is why the old LAMS campus changed to Veterans Park. He said no decision has been made for the old LAMS campus, as if it would remain part of the Veterans Park campus.

Savage went on to explain that they want to build a school that can last 50 years or more that has a powerful identity for that school. That process has to be done thoughtfully and the design and work has to support that vision.

“It’s not about putting bodies in there as soon as possible” Savage said.

To open up a brand new school with a new name, it would have had to already be completed at this point, he said.

“There is nothing that precludes us from doing that the following year. We are going to market, program assign and go through naming,” Savage said.

As far as school choice, Savage said they have a few sets of numbers, capacity and full ability, program capacity and actual enrolled students that goes into placing students.

“What program capacity will we set for that campus. that number is not set yet. A meeting between budget and planning that occurs right now through March,” he said.

At the present time, the extra space will be used for Veterans Park while the renovation occurs with the LAMS facility.

The school choice is primarily talking about sixth grade students, which addresses those students for the entire zone. That numbers will be known after the lottery and district personnel will adequately address setting up appropriate sixth grade seats, he said.