Expansion complete, Rogers School Board contemplates next move

ROGERS -- The School Board approved the last change order for Rogers New Technology High School on Tuesday. The School District got a $53,640 refund as a result.

Board members first gave the OK in November 2012 to remodel The Annex, 2922 S. First St., to house an in-district charter school. The school opened in August 2013 with freshman and sophomore classes. A second phase of construction was approved that same month for a 7,000-square-foot addition, a separate entrance, remodeling of the building's kitchen and gym facilities and additional parking. The remodel and second phase were finished for $3.4 million.

At A Glance

Growth In Rogers

Rogers administrators are projecting growth based on a five-year history of enrollment. No new schools are in the immediate plans for the district, but they will review enrollment projections again in the fall, administrators said. Based on a 5-year history, this fall’s enrollment will reach:

• 7,127 kindergarten through fifth-grade students

• 3,582 sixth- through eighth-grade students

• 4,493 ninth- through 12th-grade students.

Based on this year’s five-year history, enrollment in 2019-2020 — five years from now — will reach:

• 7,462 kindergarten through fifth-grade students

• 3,725 sixth- through eighth-grade students

• 4,849 ninth- through 12th-grade students.

Source: Rogers School District

Construction was finished before the 2014 school year, said Jim White, chief operating officer.

"We've just been sewing up some loose ends," he said.

It was the district's most recent school addition, but the future could hold more building projects.

The master plan for the district calls for an elementary school to open as soon as the 2018-19 school year, said Jerry Carmichael, School Board president. Board members reviewed student growth last week, but will discuss it again in the fall, Carmichael said.

The area around Darr Elementary School is growing, said Mark Sparks, deputy superintendent.

An estimated 1,300 lots exist in Rogers and Lowell, according to documents reviewed by the board in a meeting last week. Of those, 1,099 lots would fall under the boundary for Darr school. Board members studied growth models based on three-year, five-year and 10-year enrollment histories. As the lots turn into houses and students move into the area, administrators will have a better sense of growth.

"It makes a lot of sense for us to wait until the fall to get another year of information," Sparks said.

There is room for some growth now in the district, said Janie Darr, superintendent. There are 11 rooms at Tucker Elementary School and another seven at Darr Elementary School that could be pressed into service as classrooms, she said. Other buildings have available space -- prekindergarten classrooms or art rooms -- that could be converted to classrooms if necessary, according to documents given to the school board.

If numbers swell at the high school, administrators may appeal to the state to expand the New Technology charter of 600, Darr said. The school, which is an optional third high school for Rogers students, has an enrollment of 383. If enrollment grows past 700, classrooms will need to be reconfigured and the building will need to be remodeled again, Darr said.

Middle schools and high schools haven't reached capacity yet, although five of the district's 13 middle schools have no room to add a classroom for students, according to district documents.

The board will take up growth plans again after this fall's enrollment.

"We think we have the backbone of the plan laid," Darr said.

Amye Buckley can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAAmye

NW News on 01/21/2015

Upcoming Events