Gwinn Area Community Schools Superintendent Brandon Bruce talks about the possibility of a K-12 campus during a Wednesday town hall at K.I. Sawyer Elementary School. Under a proposed plan, Sawyer and Gilbert elementary schools would close and an elementary wing would be added to the current Gwinn High/Middle School. (Journal photo by Christie Mastric)

K.I. SAWYER — Discussion of a possible combined K-12 campus and the “one school, one community” concept continued on Wednesday during a town hall at K.I. Sawyer Elementary School.

Gwinn Area Community Schools staff and a special steering committee have been looking into the possibility of closing K.I. Sawyer and Gilbert elementary schools and adding a K-5 grade school wing to the current Gwinn High/Middle School building.

It’s not a new idea.

“Ultimately, it’s been in discussion for a lot of years,” GACS Superintendent Brandon Bruce said.

Bruce said buildings are aging and need to be updated and maintained.

“We want to make sure that we keep things well for our students,” he said.

Bruce said a Marquette architectural firm that also would serve as the construction management firm for the project, Integrated Designs Inc., performed building assessments, which it shared with the GACS Board of Education that in turn shared them with the steering committee.

The focus was to determine what was the “best bang for the buck” and make a good facility for students, teachers and the community for the next 25 to 30 years, Bruce said.

“Our kids deserve that, as does the community,” he said.

The committee decided to focus on a single K-12 campus, which would involve a bond proposal on which the community could ultimately vote, he said.

Renovations would involve improvements such as refurbishing the high/middle school’s science wing and the industrial arts section, and the cafeteria to be updated as an auditorium.

A new cafeteria to be used by all students, kitchen, seating area and gymnasium also are part of the tentative plans.

Jesie Melchiori, a member of the steering committee, said it would cost about $41 million to renovate the current buildings, while the initial one-campus idea had an estimated price tag of $60 million. The committee then brought that figure down to $45 million, which she pointed out still would provide better resources for learning.

“It was really kind of a no-brainer,” Melchiori said.

Another important issue, she noted, involves drop-off spots.

“We don’t want the kids all together,” she said. “Even though they all ride the school bus together, we don’t want them necessarily mingling in the hallways.”

The “simple answer” for that dilemma, Melchiori said, would be to have three drop-off spots, distanced apart. As soon as the bell rings, the facility would become secure with a single central entrance for everyone to use.

Bruce said IDI is working on the project application that will be submitted to the Michigan Department of Treasury, which would have to approve or not approve it by the end of July. The GACS Board of Education then would have to pass a resolution in August to submit the bond proposal for an upcoming election.

Bruce said he recommends the proposal be on the November ballot, with such an election costing the school district about $10,000.

In the meantime, the community will have opportunities to share their input with the school district. A special email where people can send questions has been set up at oneschoolonecommunity@yahoo.com.

Bruce said he has had conversations with Forsyth Township and developers on whether they are interested in the two buildings that would be vacated: Sawyer and Gilbert schools.

“The district will not hang on to these two buildings,” Bruce said.

He also noted if the proposal passes in November, it probably will be four years before the new facility will open.

“This will impact generations of kids,” Bruce said.

Ryan Lipinski, a member of the steering committee, stressed that kids build bonds with each other during grade school.

“Right now, we have two different elementary schools on two different sides of the fence, building their bonds,” said Lipinski, who noted that “fence” was M-553. “When they come to the middle school/high school together, they clash because it’s different societies to them, even though to us they’re all Gwinn.

“So, if we move the schools all into one, they start out together. They meet, they hang out, they make friends in this one society instead of two, and they all grow up together. They go through the process together, and I’m willing to bet that within one generation, we could destroy the rift between the two places because the kids will all grow up, graduate high school, and see that there’s nothing different between them just because they live on the wrong side of the fence, the fence being 553.”

Christie Mastric can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 550. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net.