Hope Center Executive Director Becky Bolt addresses the Marysville Board of Education during a meeting at Bunsold Middle School Thursday. The Hope Center may be forced out of its current Chestnut Street location as the district prepares to repurpose the former elementary school into administrative offices. The former home of the administration would then be renovated into classroom space for Edgewood Elementary School. (Journal-Tribune photo by Chad Williamson)
An enrollment study that provided welcome news for the Marysville School District and local taxpayers appears to have also left the Hope Center looking for a new home.
It was reported at Thursday night’s Marysville School Board meeting that the study found surging development will not bring as many students into the district as anticipated. But the district will need to make adjustments to existing facilities, creating an uncertain future of the Hope Center, housed in the district-owned former East Elementary School on Chestnut Street.
The district plans to renovate the existing district offices on Edgewood Drive to create five new classrooms for Edgewood Elementary School. The administrative operations would then move to the former East Elementary School, which already houses the district’s Tri-Academy. Renovation work on the Chestnut Street building is slated to begin in the summer.
With the Hope Center being forced out of its current home, officials quickly squashed the idea that the civic operation might dissolve altogether.
“This is not going to happen,” Gene Miller, President of the Marysville Area Ministerial Association, said.
Miller and a group of other Hope Center officials addressed the board with concerns Thursday, asking the district to reconsider or at least slow down the process.
The Study
To understand the situation of the Hope Center, the situation of the Marysville District must be understood.
A capacity study created by FutureThink in 2019 projected that enrollment growth through 2029 should not outpace available space. In that study only Northwood Elementary and Bunsold Middle School appeared squeezed for space, but the difference was manageable.
But with hundreds of apartment and single-family rooftops being approved for the Marysville area in the years since the study, district officials felt the projections might already be outdated and asked FutureThink to take another look at the area.
Officials had feared the growth might have pushed up the need for a new building before 2029. District Treasurer Todd Johnson explained that 2029 is an important milestone because that is the year Marysville will have paid off all of its bonds for previous school construction. If the district can get to 2029 without needing a new building, it could craft a “no new taxes” style of bond levy for construction if necessary.
“Our plan and our goal was to reach that point,” Johnson said.
Assistant Superintendent Jonathan Langhals reported to the board Thursday that the new enrollment study projected increased growth beyond the 2019 forecast, but nothing drastic. The updated numbers estimated a little more than 100 additional students above the previous study.
The new study estimated that capacity problems would be experienced at Edgewood, Mill Valley and Bunsold.
“Edgewood right now, really, zero rooms available,” Langhals said. “They’ve already started to condense.”
District Facilities Coordinator Ryan Walker said the district has considered modular classrooms but to lease the needed space for four years would cost more than $1 million, without additional costs for utility hookups. He added that the district would be left with nothing to show for the investment.
The Plan
“Before this study we were firmly expecting to have to build a new building,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the district felt it might need a new elementary school which could cost about $15 million. High schools and middle schools are considerably more costly to build, estimated at $65 million and $35 million respectively.
With a new building unnecessary and modulars seeming impractical, the district opted to reconfigure its existing space and that’s what drew the Chestnut Street facility into the discussion.
“We landed on using our current assets,” Walker said.
The idea is to move the district administrative offices to the former East Building and create an expanded “welcome center” for new students and parents coming into the district. Moving to East also gives the district another gymnasium at its disposal, a facility in short supply in recent years. The Tri-Academy would remain at the facility.
Once the administration is moved, renovation work on the Edgewood Drive facility can start. The creation of five more classrooms allows flexibility if the district needs to redistrict in the future to even out class sizes.
The cost to renovate the Edgewood Building would be $2.1 million while the cost to renovate the Chestnut Street building would be $2.3 million. Johnson said both costs could be covered with existing permanent improvement funds.
Officials have said in the past that it would cost more than $14 million to upgrade the former East building to serve as an elementary school again.
Right now, construction on the Chestnut Street Building could begin in August of 2022, with a move-in date of December 2022. Renovation of the Edgewood property would then begin with the building being available to students by fall of 2023.
What about the Hope Center?
The Hope Center was created in 2011 with the goal of serving those in the community who are in need.
It has three “ministries,” called Compassion, Community and Next Gen, that exist to meet a variety of needs among community members.
Compassion ministries include a community kitchen that serves free meals, a personal needs pantry, a clothes closet, a furniture bank and legal counsel, amongst other services. Community ministries consist of various support groups. Lastly, Next Gen ministries provide youth with mentors and other safe activities. Throughout the pandemic, the Hope Center has also provided free tutoring and extracurricular activities for students.
The district originally leased the facility to the group for $65,000 per year, or about $5,400 per month. Because of difficulties making payments, that amount was eventually lowered to $3,500 per month.
The Hope Center covers the cost of all utilities at the facility and is given an annual $8,000 credit from the school district for use of the space for Tri-Academy.
According to Superintendent Diane Allen the district has approached the facility operators about purchasing the facility recently. Reports indicate the Hope Center once offered $250,000 to purchase the facility and then upped the offer to $550,000.
But while those offers were being developed, the enrollment study was also underway, Allen said. When the projections came back with reduced student growth, the options for the former East School changed.
The Hope Center’s annual lease expires at the end of the year. After that, the facility has been offered an option to pay month-by-month until renovation begins.
Hope Center officials were at Thursday night’s meeting to convince the board to reconsider.
Hope Center Executive Director Becky Bolt said the value of the facility is undeniable and she knows the board is in a difficult position.
“It touches my heart and I know it touches yours too,” she said.
She said having all of the organization’s operations under one roof allows for a one-stop approach to helping the needy. She said she hopes all involved parties can continue to meet to find a win-win solution, but she said the group would continue its work, even if forced to move.
“It doesn’t mean God doesn’t have a plan for us elsewhere,” Bolt said.
First Presbyterian Pastor Jeff Schooley said there are “still stones left to turn over” in this situation. He urged the board to find a “plan B” because the consequences could manifest among the youths the district serves.
“Today’s easy solution could become tomorrow’s hardship,” he said.
Several members of the group noted that administrative offices could be placed anywhere, even in modulars or working remotely, but the facility would suffer if it moves.
Union County Commissioner and Hope Center advocate Chris Schmenk said the district showed grace when the facility had trouble with lease payments and she hoped for another such solution.
“I encourage us all to keep an open heart,” she said.
But other members of the group were less compassionate.
Ed Beeson, who identified himself as a minister in the area for 24 years, said open communication on the subject appears to be in short supply.
He said such a lack of cooperation can cause area churches and their members to lose confidence in the honesty of the school board and administration. He said it could be difficult to regain such trust.
“Especially at tax levy time,” Beeson said.
What’s next
The board of education has not officially accepted the plan to displace the Hope Center, but could do so at a future meeting.
All noted the importance of the facility to the community, but also felt an obligation to the tax-paying public.
“We have a responsibility to make the highest and best use of the assets we possess … because we have a duty to the taxpayers,” board member Dick Smith said.