Gainesville School Board officials unanimously voted to approve the beginning of a phase out for certain buildings on the Gainesville High School campus, beginning the process in part with the system's five year facility plan.
Superintendent Jeremy Williams said Woods Mill 9th Grade Academy, the Gainesville High cafeteria and the CTAE building would be the three main buildings.
"We have many buildings on the Gainesville High School campus and our goal is to look to the future. Right now we have about 2,100 students at the high school and 1,900 next year at the middle school. What a partial phase out allows us to do is see what kind of money - capital outlay - we can collect from the state and start to plan for the next three to five years how to configure that campus."
Adrian Niles presented photos of the buildings in question as well as facts about the phasing out process. He noted that the cafeteria was built in 1960 and board member Sammy Smith added it was open in 1965. With Finance Director Kathy Pethel's input on the financial lifespan of a building, the cafeteria had exceeded its value by 13 years.
"It's gonna cost more to renovate it than would to tear down and rebuild it," said Williams. "When you start to weight those options, you look more towards the future of rebuilding."
There are 14 buildings on the Gainesville High campus, including Woods Mill. The phasing out would include the cafeteria, three classrooms built in 1979, a non-instructional space built in 1988 (in the CTAE wing) and the 9th grade center. The Alumni Gym is not included in the phase out and will be staying.
After further discussion, the board approved the partial phase out.
