As Northwest Allen County Schools grows and changes, we sought insight from stakeholders about your impression of how we are doing as a school district. We asked anyone who resides in NACS, owns property here or works for NACS to complete a survey. We also included student input from grades 5-12. The survey was open from Feb. 14-Feb. 27.
NACS is pleased to report that we received excellent participation in the survey with 6,500 responses. Thank you to the community who took time to share your thoughts with us! We will begin deciphering this information in the coming weeks.
In the fall of 2022, a demographic study was conducted to estimate the current and future student population of Northwest Allen County Schools. McKibben Demographic Research presented the results to the NACS School Board on Nov. 4, 2022. In short, NACS is projected to continue its pattern of growth over the next 10 years. The findings may be seen in-full here:
NACS Population and Enrollment Forecasts - 11.04.22
Click on the link below for a comparison of projected growth by school.
NACS 10-Year Enrollment Projection by School
Both middles schools are at or near capacity and more growth is expected there. NACS asked Moake Park Group to present options for accommodating growth at the middle school level. The presentation includes four middle school solutions, construction expenses, and a pros and cons list for each.
Moake Park Group Middle School Presentation for NACS Board 12.12.22
Lindsay Simonetto and Joey Cardenas from Baker Tilly Municipal Advisors presented to the NACS Board on Jan. 9, 2023, at the request of Mr. Barker, financing options for building a new middle school, as the basis for their report.
- A new middle school is nearly the average of hard construction costs of the four options being considered.
- A new middle school is the only option patrons have expressed interest in so far that makes the most sense for us to do.
The scenario Baker Tilly used for the financial presentation is $95,000,000 which includes the hard construction costs and the soft costs for a new middle school. The second scenario is for an additional $40,000,000 for the renovation and expansion of Carroll High School as well as a new central office. All scenarios are based on assumptions for the purpose of understanding our debt capacity and in no way reflect a decision by the board.
Baker Tilly Illustrative Financing Options 1.9.23
Once the actual costs for Carroll High School were presented, we asked for an update on the financing options which is available at the link here.
Baker Tilly Illustrative Financing Options - 01.30.23
Chief Operations Officer Brandon Bitting requested approval to advertise an RFP for architectural services for building an administration office for NACS at the board meeting on Jan. 9.
Request for proposal (RFP) for architectural services for NACS central office
An option for expanding Carroll High School was presented by Barton-Coe-Vilamaa at the NACS School Board meeting on Jan. 23. The presentation included construction costs. With a better understanding of the costs for the addition, we will get an update from Baker Tilly on adjusting financing options.
Carroll High School Expansion Presentation 1.23.23
On Feb. 13, we announced our intention to use Elevatus Architecture as the primary architect for the NACS central office. The goal is to announce a bond issue for all three of these construction projects--1) middle school, 2) high school expansion, 3) relocating NACS administration office.
Request for Proposals for NACS building projects
At the School Board meeting on Feb. 27, Northwest Allen County Schools requested proposals for the services of a Construction Manager as Constructor in accordance with Indiana Code 5-32. Notice is hereby given that responses to this Request for Proposals will be received by Northwest Allen County Schools for the upcoming building projects located at various sites in Northwest Allen County Schools, including Carroll High School and two places yet to be determined.