AIRWAY HEIGHTS – Cheney School District Superintendent Ben Ferney brought a presentation to the floor of the June 5 city council meeting in Airway Heights, and he brought discussion of some surveying and studies that have been done during his 11 months as Superintendent.
According to Ferney, he has been in discussions with various leaders in the school district and west plains communities to learn about where the school district sits.
“One of the themes that came out of that very clearly is that we are outgrowing our system as a school district,” Ferney said. “Not only growth wise in terms of students and space, but also what we need to do to also help our organization, our district grow with structure.”
Ferney explained that a long-term plan had been worked on by a committee of over 20 people, and included public surveys within three sectors. Cheney, Airway Heights, and the west plains being the surveyed areas.
According to Ferney the main goal has been to analyze the growth patterns, and see what options could be available for the district to accommodate the growth moving forward. He said the decisions moving forward will be based off of the recommendations of the communities and people surveyed.
The addition of schools in Airway Heights has been a hot topic for years if not decades, and Ferney explained that one of the survey topics was whether people want to see more schools soon. He then explained that if schools are not built then portable schools are an expensive option.
“That option still comes at a cost because as you continue to grow,” Ferney said. “Portables are about one million dollars a piece for two classrooms, and if you look at our growth what that’s going to mean is that you’re looking at 15 to 20 million dollars in portables eventually over the next 10 years.”
Ferney also spoke of other optional drafted plans that included implementing additional elementary schools in the district. He also spoke of concerns regarding secondary schools, and said currently Cheney High School has about 1,350 to 1,400 students.
He also continued by explaining that splitting a high school of that size is not cost effective. Council member Davin Perry asked Ferney why a smaller school couldn’t be built, and the superintendent told him because the standard high school size in the state typically can hold up to 2,000 students and the utilization should be at 75 percent or higher.
Ferney cited Central Valley School District with the construction of Ridgeline High School saying it isn’t quite comparable because there are more students in the district so it was easier to fill a new high school.
According to the superintendent, the immediate need doesn’t fall there however. He said the high school is operating at about 97 percent capacity, but elementary schools are currently at 113 percent, so the plans are to build more elementary schools first.
Land is one of the biggest factors when building schools according to Ferney, as he said it is more difficult to allocate land for a high school because of all of the athletic fields and amenities they need. According to Ferney, high schools need about 50 acres of land, middle schools require about 35 acres, and elementary schools only require 10.
As the floor opened for questions, council member Kevin Richey told Ferney he hopes the school district does listen to the recommendations of the people, as that has not been the case in the past.
“I think it’s fantastic you’re involving the community when starting these discussions,” Richey said. “When they make the recommendations follow them. Historically there’s been some animosity and a lack of follow through with the Cheney School District.”
Thirty years has led to some frustrations according to Richey, and he said the issues have been magnified over those years. When Cheney High School was expanded, a letter against the proposal was written according to Mayor Larry Bowman.
“Previously when the expansion of the high school came up we did write a letter against it because we’ve had that animosity for many years,” Bowman said. “We also found a letter from the 80’s that had very choice opinions from the time I was in elementary school.”
“It’s funny to see that the voices have been strong but they don’t feel like they’ve ever been heard,”
The mayor told Ferney his efforts to include the community are appreciated, but he wants to see all options explored moving forward.
Matthew graduated from West Virginia University-Parkersburg in 2011 with a journalism degree. He's an award-winning photographer and enjoys writing stories about people.
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