A team concept of working toward facility improvements in USD 282-West Elk was started Monday night when the board of education voted to seek a construction manager.

Board members held a public hearing during the Monday special meeting allowing public input of opinions on the plan which will put in place a construction manager to work with school and community leaders as they continue seeking efficient ways to continue providing a good public education program in the district.

School board president Marty Taliaferro said the board hopes to spend most of 2009 planning a new elementary school on the site of the existing West Elk Junior/Senior High building in Howard. At present, the district has two elementary schools in operation at opposite ends of the district — one in Moline and the other in Severy. Those facilities would be closed if voters choose to build a centralized elementary school in Howard.

“This is the beginning of a process,” said Taliaferro. “It is hard to predict the future but I personally believe if we don’t make some decisions this year, we will have some really difficult ones to make a year or two years down the road.”

The plan, as described by board members at the meeting, will be to work toward getting voter approval for a bond issue in November of this year to finance the construction of a new elementary school. Rather than using the traditional method of “bid and build,” the school plans to utilize a construction manager who works side by side with community members, the board and administration, and employees of the school district.

The board has already hired an architect, Doug Allison from WDM Architects in Wichita, who assisted with Monday night’s hearing.

Allison said using a construction manager rather than a low-bid contractor offers many advantages, mainly that he will be on site during the entire planning process, not just during construction.

Allison said this will allow the board and local community more control over the project details since he will be involved from the very first day of planning.

“We want to function as a team,” said Taliaferro. “The construction manager will be a vital part of that team.”

Allison and board members answered questions from the audience then voted 5-0 to advertise for proposals from qualified construction managers in the region.

Prospective applicants for the position will have until June 5 to submit their statement of qualifications to the board office.

The board will examine those applications at their regular meeting on June 8 and narrow them down to two or three. Complete proposals will then be considered by the board at a special meeting on June 15. Actual interviews of those on the short list will be conducted at the June 15 meeting.

The board will be advised by the Building Advisory Committee as the selection process takes place.

All this will take place as the board continues to seek public input on the direction the district should take with regard to the three campuses currently in operation.

Declining enrollment in the past two years has resulted in considerable losses in state aid to the district, and the Kansas Legislature made even more cuts during its 2009 session after state revenues came up significantly shorter than anticipated.