FAQs

Our primary focus for a new high school is to offer a better learning environment for student success.

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​-support curriculum needs (new science labs, CTE programs, AP courses, transition to the workforce or college programs)

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-improve outdated infrastructure (technology, safety, & building efficiency)

 

-accomodate a growing student population

(currently 800 students attending SHS which was built for a capacity of 650)​

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-solve district-wide crowding. A new 1,000-person high school frees-up space for 1,000 students throughout the whole district. It would let us re-shuffle.

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We all wish this was the easy answer!  This option has been researched and discussed with our construction partner, Bateman Hall.  Unfortunately adding-on to The Cellar is not a viable option, mainly because it is cost-prohibitive. The way SHS is situated, it's land-locked on the North, East, & West. That leaves two options:

-build a 'wing' to the South (into the parking lot)

-build 'up' for a second story

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The main problem?  We would have nowhere for high school students to safely attend school while SHS was being rennovated. Also, these options would still not alleviate the over-crowding of Commons Areas (halls, cafeteria, labs,etc.)  Finally, it is less expensive to build a new, efficient building than adding-on to SHS.

The school district owns a parcel of land to the South West of the existing SHS. Although the exact placement of the school has yet to be decided, we like the idea of utilizing the parking lot and playing fields already in place if feasible. Our architects and contractors are weighing options on the expense of land development, running utilities, and transportation access to best-use bond money.

(ie: it may be cheaper to move a softball field than run gas lines further)

We do know that the current High School would be turned into the Middle School. 

 

The Construction Timeline to build a new building would be three years. In that time, district employees and community members would have discussion on what is best for Shelley students and teachers, ultimately deciding how to use existing schools.

A "school bonding capacity" refers to the maximum amount of money a school district can borrow through issuing bonds, which is typically based on the district's assessed property value and its ability to generate tax revenue to service the debt; essentially, it's the limit on how much a school district can borrow to fund projects like building construction or renovations through issuing bonds.

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Based on our current bonding capacity, we can afford to build a school with Common Areas for 1000 students. 

A levy is used to fill the gap between state funding and the actual costs of operating a school district.  The most recent levy was passed in 2023 and is currently covering the cost of:  increased costs of salaries, insurance, school
safety, and the rising demands of special services as required by federal law.

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From Superintendent McLaren: "Student capacity is very difficult to nail down because of the variables, but here is the simplified version that hopefully compares apples to apples as best we can.

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Current building has 27 classroom spaces which includes the culinary kitchen. If we say each classroom holds 25 students then our current building can hold 675. The new building would have 34 classroom spaces, including the kitchen. Using the same multiplier we would have 850. I am not sure if that is where the original number came from or not, but that is our best effort to compare things.

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The new building has larger class square footage and an extra science lab. The auditorium would add one additional classroom and the CTE would add between 8-11 potentially.