LINN  — Linn R-2 board members considered site locations for the new middle school offered by Bond Architects at their August meeting.

Superintendent Bob James noted the high school is approximately 38,000 square feet, and the basement beneath the field house is just over 13,000 square feet.

With several options, James said one of the main things to consider is how the district lists the buildings. “Do we want it sequential? Do we want to go elementary, middle, and then high school?” James asked.

There’s also a lot of shared space in grades 6-12, including a library, band and choir rooms, the cafeteria, and administrative and nursing offices.

“A lot of options consider growth, so each of them is specced at an additional 20,000 square feet,” said James. “We have to look at how much overlap we prefer, and do we want it sequential or do we want to keep our high school? We talked about getting our students out (of the basement), and we have options. It doesn’t end up being a new middle school that’s built. It’s more like part of the existing high school is renovated for middle school space, and we add onto it, creating some additional high school classroom space.”

In two of three options, James said the high school would have truly new classrooms based on limitations with space.

The top floor of the field house is about 2,300 square feet. Lockers won’t work for football or track, according to Athletic Director Chris Minnix, but the space could be used for indoor sports.

Board member Brett Phillips said lockers should be a priority for the district.

“The visiting lockers are the same as when I was here in the fifth grade,” James said. “They’re the same pastels as in the 1960s.”

“We don’t care about those, though,” Board President Dr. Shawn Strong quipped.

The large locker room is divided by a door to create two changing areas but could be used as a single unit.

Option two is the only one that completely moves the middle school outside of its current space with the creation of a new building. “This is also the most expensive option,” said James. “Just the site prep alone (northeast of the field house) would include a big electrical junction in the corner between the upper playground and the exit.”

James explained this option would give the district 20,000 square feet of core classroom space to replace the area students leave. “They would still use the existing high school cafeteria, nurse, band, and choir rooms, and library,” said James. “We would also want to make sure there are some admin offices there.”

Further, James said this would require Linn R-2 to expand the administrative team. “We would have disconnected building, so we would need a dedicated middle school admin team and probably need to consider a middle school counselor,” he added. “We could probably limp along.”

Board VP Hannah Swann asked if there would be a separate entrance for parent pickup, to which James replied he hadn’t gotten that far yet. “Potentially,” he said. “This is a rudimentary look at three options.”

Linn can choose one of two remodeling options or the third option to build a new middle school.

“I don’t know that this accommodates them,” said James of parents wanting to pick up their children. “I don’t know that we’ll have a road that goes through, so they would more than likely be going in through the main high school office and the field house.”

“So the only benefit to this is it minimizes interaction between middle and high school,” said Dr. Strong.

One of the remodeling options includes a courtyard in front of the high school, which James said was initially designed to protect the windows the school wants to keep.

High School Principal Erin Sassmann expressed concern about how the courtyard would be maintained so that it remains a beautiful area.

“The most important aspect is that it’s the least expensive option,” said James. “The drawback is we would lose parking and a little of our existing bus loop.”

That loop could be revised to accommodate busing, but James estimates the school would lose about six parking spaces.

A parking lot east of the high school could handle some of the parking shortage, but the area northwest of the elementary would not be advisable for parking because of the recently installed new playground donated by the PTO.

James suggested adding parking spaces to the west of the Ag building. “I don’t like that we’re losing any parking,” he said. “This just keeps us where we’re at, but I think we need more parking. This is the least expensive because this is the most level place we have to build. It is not my favorite, though. We need double the parking, not a project that keeps us close to the same.”

“On the flip side, I’m thinking about a mom with a young driver, and going to JC when I was younger, we had to park far away and walk,” said Swann. “Maybe it’s not a bad thing to have some of those high-schoolers park farther away from where kids are coming in and out of buildings.”

Sassmann suggested that making the grassy area west of the Ag building a parking space would enable students to take the gravel road to leave campus on the east side.

Swann said it would be unfortunate to take parking away from patrons attending a game, but she has no qualms with having students walk a little farther.

Board member Mark Baker asked if building an underground parking structure was possible.

“It is in the flat near our gate, but we don’t want to go very far into the trees,” said James. “It’s pretty close. If we got another row, I would be surprised because it drops off pretty fast. We’d have to lift the area. Our line isn’t very far into those trees, so I don’t know how much we’d get for very expensive site prep. My least favorite part is we’re losing parking, but I do like that it would wrap our schools around the field house.”

James said there is a ton of potential for the field house to be the district’s crown jewel.

“If we spend less money on the middle school, can we put some of that back into the field house for air conditioning?” Swann asked. “That would be really nice.”

The third option presented includes adding on to the east side of the high school. James said it appears the building was constructed with that option in mind. Another advantage to this option is that if the high school classrooms are renovated for middle school, it allows high school classes to be on the back side. Students in band and choir would not have to go through middle school classes to get to their practice rooms in the northernmost part of the building.

With this option, the district could swap its high school administrative offices with where the counselors are set up on the east end of the building. “That would keep our administrative offices centrally located between the high school and middle school,” said James. “We would only have to go to the front for inclement weather if we need to use the field house or to go to lunch.”

High school students in this scenario would enter the high school directly from the outside on the east end of the building.

James said there is consideration for security vestibules inside the building. “Right now, when you get buzzed in, you’re all the way in, meaning you can go anywhere,” he said. “A vestibule would give us an opportunity to chat with visitors, and if something is off, we can keep them out of the rest of the building.”

James said a security vestibule could be added regardless of the option selected.

“It depends on how far we want to go,” said James. “It depends on our tolerance of how much they co-mingle. If we don’t want students to co-mingle, we would go with option one, but it’s the most expensive.”

He reiterated his dislike for the first option and recommended the third to avoid losing parking spaces.

James told the board the district has the option to build a storm shelter, with 75% of the costs reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for meeting requirements. “We would save money there, but I’ve never gone through this in this position,” he added.

Dr. Strong asked about the architect’s opinion on a storm shelter, noting that an engineer friend told him there would not be any additional FEMA grants for a while.

“I don’t know the answer to that, but I’ll look into it,” said James.

The last federal disaster tied to FEMA funding followed the tornadoes in Jefferson City a few years ago.

“I don’t want everyone in Linn saying we’re going to have a tornado shelter and get 75 percent back,” said Dr. Strong. “I don’t think it’s very likely.”

Dr. Strong added that he’s concerned about option three because of constructibility. “You would have to have three or four feet between the buildings,” he said.

Board member Naomi Klouzek said she dislikes option two because she doesn’t want to add to the front of the high school.

In response to a question from Baker about the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) adding an entrance to Hwy. 50, James said it would not benefit the agency to do so. “We talked about asphalting CR 801 but adding another entrance to Hwy. 50 would add to an already congested area,” said James. “Also, it’s a very expensive option.”

James noted the project’s purpose was to move students in grades 6-8 out of the basement. It was not necessarily to build a new middle school.

Dr. Strong asked if designating the west side of the school parking, with no students parking farther east than the elementary building, would make sense with option two. He acknowledged it would require the acquisition of property, suggesting the area behind the former nursing home would be ideal.

“That makes sense,” said Phillips.

“It’s an accident waiting to happen,” said Dr. Strong.

Currently, student drivers exit to the east and take CR 801 to Hwy. 50 to leave campus. However, Dr. Strong noted that scenario introduces students to an already busy intersection.

James agreed it’s less than ideal, but keeping drivers from crossing the lot has helped the last few years.

Buses leave after students exit.

“Until we get spotlights over here, I’d rather have my kid take 801,” said Swann, adding it’s easier to get onto the highway from 801 than Rt. CC.

Dr. Strong said stoplights will be installed next summer.

He added the board shouldn’t eliminate option two because of parking concerns, suggesting instead the district look at ways to alleviate those concerns if option two is selected.

Baker suggested cutting option one, explaining he wasn’t sure how well that would work.

“It’s not going to show very well,” said Dr. Strong of the option to construct a new middle school behind the current buildings on the north side. “We want a school we can be proud of, and it’s buried behind the elementary. We have a nice elementary school too, but nobody really knows it because it’s buried.”

Klouzek said she’s concerned about option three with parking in the grassy area because students and even some parents might speed through the lot and not be able to see students crossing from the high school to the Ag building.

Linn has about 65 parking spots now.

“If we want to continue building our school in 10 or 15 years, it seems easier to build onto option three than option two,” said Swann.

Dr. Strong added, “The reason I like option two better is because option three feels like you’re stabbing something on. How do you add onto that? You could go a lot further out on option three.”

Board members asked to see more details about options two and three.