The Salisbury Township School District operations committee met Dec. 4 to discuss a proposal for a master plan for school facilities by Fielding Nair International.

The master plan proposal was introduced by Superintendent Dr. Randy Ziegenfuss and Associate Superintendent Lynn Fuini-Hetten.

Ziegenfuss said the district will proceed with the approved summer projects in the district but will hold on the work proposed for Salisbury Middle School and Western Salisbury Elementary School.

The plan includes looking at the existing buildings to see how they fit in to the facilities needed for future students.

FNI is in 48 countries and has experience in transforming education through design, Ziegenfuss said.

There would be two phases covered under the approved master plan segment. Phase 1 would be discovery which would include two to three site visits, walking tours, planning, brainstorming and workshops with stakeholders. This would be completed in January/February 2020.

Phase 2 would be the master planning phase, set to close between March and May 2020 and include developing options, assessment of current buildings, identify constraints and opportunities, provide probable cost estimates and a final presentation.

FNI’s Senior Education Consultant, Nathan Strenge was video-conferenced in to introduce himself and to field any questions from the school board.

Initial estimates suggested it would cost the district approximately $35-40 million to replace mechanical systems, update ramps and more at SMS and WSE.

Administration said with that in mind, a proposal to work with internationally renowned and award-winning design firm FNI would aim to support the vision for learning established by Salisbury School District to determine if the existing facilities will work or if new is needed. Fuini-Hetten said what sets this company apart from other architects and design firms is their unique combination of design and education experienced-staff. One of their main goals will be to identify specialized solutions for community needs as well as create space that will be functional and supportive of learning for decades to come.

The fee for FNI is $50,000 plus some expenses. Ziegenfuss said this cost is covered in the most recent bond and administration feels this is a valuable investment.

“It’s a good fit. I have been inspired by this company. This will lead the future of this district for the next 30-40 years,” Ziegenfuss said.

“I applaud you for looking for this with expertise,” Board Vice President Samuel DeFrank said. “The money spent will help us understand learning in the future.”

Board member Carol Klinger said FNI had a unique combination of educators and architects but questioned the money given to D’Huy Engineering recently to update the facility plan for the district.

Board Secretary, Chief Financial Officer Michael Taylor said D’Huy Engineering was paid $19,500 to update the existing plan. It was said D’Huy’s expertise is in brick and mortar plans. The update from D’Huy was only to repair and update existing space with a bare minimum to keep the buildings operational. The proposal did not include the education-minded changes FNI specializes in.

Board member Joe Gnall said he had “sticker shock” on the price from FNI. “If not paid for out of the bond, I wouldn’t vote for it. I feel comfortable supporting it.”

Board member Courtney Gibbs asked if there are any other firms who had presented a proposal.

Fuini-Hetten said administration did not solicit any other proposal because they could not find a company like FNI. She said they did talk with architects.

“I find it hard to believe no one else does this,” Gnall said.

Board President George Gatanis said he felt the $50,000 was justifiable in that at $200 an hour they will probably spend over 200 hours on the project.

The board gave its support to move forward with the proposal. An official vote will be held to approve the contracts.

Additional details on the master planning proposal are on the meeting agenda found at www.salisburysd.org.

In other business, the committee discussed the preliminary budget.

Taylor mentioned rising costs of special education and charter school enrollment affecting the bottom line of the budget for the 2020-2021 school year.

The preliminary budget will be finalized and voted on at the Jan. 22, 2020 meeting.

The next meeting of the operations committee will take place Jan. 15, 2020.