Greater Clark County Schools facilities plan includes building new schools

CLARK COUNTY, Ind. (WDRB) -- A five-year facility plan for Greater Clark County Schools lays out major developments for the district's facilities, including replacing some schools.

GGCS Superintendent Mark Laughner proposed the plan to the school board following several research studies into the district's facilities and recommendations from a community task force.

"We're in a very good position in this district to do a lot of work, create great learning environments for our students, to have nice school campuses and not hurt the taxpayer one bit," Laughner said.

The plan includes building new school buildings on the properties of Wilson and Jonathan Jennings Elementary Schools and merging students from Pleasant Ridge and Thomas Jefferson elementary schools into those new buildings.

Laughner said all four of the elementary schools in that plan are old and outdated. Most of the buildings are around 60 years old, and renovation would cost too much, he said.

"For us to renovate Wilson and TJ, it would cost almost $29 million to renovate those two elementaries," he said. "You can build a new, state-of-the-art elementary for $29 million."

The plan also lays out new and upgrades facilities for extracurricular activities, like a new pool at Jeffersonville High School. More upgrades in the plan include general building maintenance, like HVAC fixes.

"We want our kids to have nice classrooms and learning environments, but we also want them to have nice extracurricular facilities," Laughner said.

Some of the funding for these projects will come from federal dollars the district received in the CARES Act.

Laughner said it won't raise taxes beyond the current $1.10 mark because he hopes to avoid funding through a referendum.

"It allows us to do this work and make this project tax neutral," he said.

The district's leader said he hopes the community will get behind the plan.

"Why wouldn't you want to support this?" Laughner asked. "You want good schools in your community that people want to send their kids to."

GCCS will hold three meetings in August to present the plan to the public.