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BASD capacity data

As chairman of the Butler School District’s after action review committee, I would like to offer some clarification to the article, “Schools operate below capacity” (Jan. 27, Page 1).

That article was based on coverage of a committee meeting where we reviewed preliminary reports on some of the measures we intend to examine during the course of our review. The committee has by no means completed our review; and those reports were not our final assessment.

One of the reports included a column showing the capacity estimates from last year’s facilities master plan study. However that capacity estimate is theoretical, not necessarily possible or desirable. We did not mean to convey that it was a target for any of our schools. In fact, we discussed how we should establish a more realistic target for each school as part of our final report.

The master plan capacity figures can be misleading because they require every room to be used as a classroom with an exact number of students. This is not possible for many schools, where we must reserve rooms for special education, child care, music and art classes, and other purposes. The school with the most students, the high school, is near capacity and will have even higher enrollment next year.

Again, the committee still needs to discuss how close to capacity our schools can be before sacrificing educational quality. How many of us would like to ride in an elevator that is full to capacity for 8 hours a day?

At our January meeting, the board approved a new software system that will allow us to publish documents, agendas and minutes to the district’s website. This will allow the public to access the same materials we see during our meetings, including these reports. I hope that when the new system is in place the Eagle will refer readers to that site as part of their coverage.

The board and administration have created the after action review to assess the early outcomes of the consolidation, so that we can make any necessary adjustments and improvements. The review includes two components: data collection, which was the topic of last Tuesday’s meeting; and a staff, parent, and community survey, which is being developed.

Check out the district’s website (www.basdk12.org) for more information.

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