On Monday December 12th that USD 489 Board of Education will take a vote on the issue of helping finish a new physical education building on the east side of Hays High School. The money that will be spent from the decision of the vote is money that the district will get to see come back to them over the next couple of years. Thanks to New Facility Funding from the state of Kansas, the district receives additional money for a limited time. The money that is needed to finish out the new facility is very close to the amount of money that will be received by the district. The major note to mention is that without the finished facility that Hays High will be using, the district will not be receiving the money.
The new facility comes to an estimated final cost of $700,000. With both in-kind and cash donations combined, there is an estimated $125,000 left to raise. That is approximately the amount of money USD 489 will be receiving over the next two years. I guess the question that one really has to ask is what other group or organization has even ventured close to the idea of raising the money to make an addition of this magnitude?
This is a facility that is not just about athletics. In a society where obesity is on the rise and with more and more groups focusing on making sure that children and teenagers are learning at a young age to be responsible for their bodies this will be a great facility. Obesity to overtake smoking as the #1 preventable death in the next five years. Back to the students. Hays High students are required to enroll and pass two physical education classes. These physical education classes do include weight lifting; with some of the classes having up to fifty students per session. This is also a facility that will have a class every hour. The weight lifting facility will be used just the same as it is now in regard to students that are allowed to access it.
While it is easy to focus on the here and now, this is a facility that will benefit more than just the kids in high school now. Children just entering the school system will have an incredible facility to utilize for a full four years because of decisions made now.
The building is located adjacent to the wrestling room. It is nearly 7200 square feet and will include some offices leaving a little over 5000 square feet for activities. The building is elevated with the concreted floor laid. The windows are scheduled to be installed soon along with the framing work for the offices.
Very seldom, if ever does the opportunity present itself for a school board to spend money that they know will be coming back to them in the near future. And most certainly the chance never comes along that allows anybody to receive a $700,000 building for a $125,000 price tag that will be reimbursed to them by a third party.
Writer’s Note:
In a country and society where negativity abounds, it seems an increasing number of people are more willing to hold back positive progress that is being pushed by others. Even if it is progress that can be used by any high school student at Hays High School if he/she should so choose. The people on the Build F.A.S.T committee and the fund raisers have done an exceptional job in raising donations during a time that finds our country more at odds than ever.
I find it very disturbing that instead of embracing the idea of having an addition to Hays High school for very little or no cost to the district has been met at times with such terrible negativity. Should the Board of Education vote for helping to finish this new facility, USD 489 could end up making money on the project, if the New Facility Funding from the state exceeds the total spent by the district.
The school district is being asked to front just 17% of the cost of the Build F.A.S.T. project; money that will be returned to the school district by the state over the next couple of year. To me that seems to be just good business sense.
As a person with children that will be entering the school district in the future with no idea of if they will play athletics, I hope they have a facility to use and a Board of Education to thank for decisions made now that will affect both now and the future. To the board of USD 489 I urge you to vote in favor of helping finish the Build F.A.S.T. project.