The Banks School District will host a community forum Tuesday, Oct. 8 in the Banks High School cafeteria starting at 6 p.m. to gather community input on a comprehensive plan for district facilities and projects the district plans to tackle soon with funds raised from a bond approved by voters in May.
The district’s contracted architecture firm, BRIC Architecture, will be on hand to lead the forum.
The event, one of several outreach events planned recently on the future of the district’s buildings and physical footprint, will cover two main topics.
First, Banks School District Superintendent Brian Sica said in a phone call with the Banks Post is a look at the district’s comprehensive plan for the district’s campus, which he anticipates will be adopted by the Banks School Board sometime toward the end of 2024 or beginning of 2025.
“That’s something that will look out the next 20 years or so to encompass the growth that the community’s expecting and really tell us what the campus could look like essentially if it reaches capacity,” he said.
“There’ll be an opportunity for community members to really talk about what they like about our current campus, what they wish was different about the campus, and what their vision and hopes are that far out in the future,” Sica added.
That portion of the forum is expected to be a zoomed-out overview of what the district could look like in 20 years, and isn’t designed to be a granular look at district facilities, Sica said.
What is more specific, however, are funds allocated to the district as part of the passage of a bond in May, approved by almost 60% of voters.
More than four months after voters approved the bond, the district is in what Sica described as the very early stages of building a plan with their architects to move forward on district improvements.
The Oct. 8 forum is one of several outreach efforts the district is embarking on.
“We’re doing a bunch of these throughout October,” Sica said.
Sica noted by way of example that one such outreach effort targeted families of children with disabilities in the district.
He also noted that the district was planning a second community-wide forum for the more rural western half of the district, tentatively scheduled to be held at the Banks Fire District Hornshuh Creek Fire Station on Highway 26 in the Buxton area.
Ultimately, the Banks School Board will have to adopt a master plan that comes out of this process. Drafts are expected to be reviewed during the board’s November board meeting, and then reviewed and adopted in December or January.
“We are so thankful to the community for passing the bond,” Sica added.
“This is just a continuation of that same process. We’re glad to have such an involved and informed community, and we look forward to hearing their dreams for the future for our wonderful students,” he said.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Banks Post and sister news publications the Gales Creek Journal and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.
