Like any other district, the Mid-Prairie school district has a list of facilities wants and needs that far exceed its budget.

At the Jan. 27 school board meeting, board members heard an hour-long presentation on the results of surveys and brainstorming sessions, as well as information from the facilities committee which has been meeting for the past year and a half.

“This is just a report tonight,” Superintendent Mark Schneider said. “There will be other conversations at future meetings.”

Tandi Brannaman, an architect with Shive-Hattery, went over the findings.

“Everybody has invested a ton of time in this, from members of the community to students and staff,” Brannaman said.

She explained that the facilities committee put together a list of project priorities. In addition, there were brainstorming sessions with school staff and students.

“We had some common themes,” she said.

Those common themes included addressing building capacity issues, paving and upgrading parking lot and drop-off areas, adding amenities and addressing maintenance issues.

One project that has been on the district’s wish list for a long time has been the addition of an auditorium at Mid-Prairie High School.

It is also the project that comes with the highest price tag, currently estimated to be between $10 million and $11 million.

Surveys and studies showed that adding more classroom space, however, takes a higher priority.

When addressing space issues, the district has to look at enrollment projections.

An enrollment study conducted last year showed projected slow but continuous growth in the district.

“The growth is actually slow, so the perception in the building might not match what’s happening out in the community and the district,” Brannaman said.

She explained that it takes 100 new houses in a district to generate 13 new students. Kalona is adding about 20 new houses a year.

The middle school is feeling a space crunch already.

Capacity at the school is 430-485 students, and current enrollment is 414.

However, Brannaman said that building a new middle school is not necessarily the best course of action.

“We did not suggest a brand new middle school,” she said. “You need more space, but based on your growth, you’re not growing at a rate that would require you to get rid of this building or convert it to a different use.”

Instead, additions could be made to the school – including a new gym, expanded commons and office areas and additional classrooms – to create more space.

While both East and West Elementary schools are feeling tight, they are not yet maxed out.

Brannaman said that the capacity for the two schools combined is 600-660. Current kindergarten through fourth- grade enrollment is about 550.

“You have space for kindergarten through fourth grade,” she said. “When you add pre-K into the mix, that’s why people are feeling like they’re squished. Those pre-K kiddos are on top of the 550.”

She suggested shuffling where the grades are housed in order to make more room.

“You could do something radical,” Brannaman said. “That would involve moving everybody from pre-K through first to West, because they would all fit.”

East Elementary would house second through fourth grade.

“The reason you could do that is because this space (West Elementary) can handle this many classrooms of kiddos that need to eat lunch,” Brannaman explained. “This space (West Elementary) is not big enough to add another lunch. There is no space to enlarge this and add more.”

She said that more community and staff engagement would be needed in order to make the best decision.

Board member Gabrielle Frederick agreed.

“One of the first things we need to decide before we make any other decisions is where those grades are going to be,” Frederick said.

Schneider said that there are no imminent plans for any projects and that the board will continue to discuss options in the coming months.

“This will just be a regular item on board meetings moving forward until we get to a place where we feel comfortable where we’re at,” Schneider said.