Moving Shady Grove students key

February 05, 2013, 9:00 pm by James Walker

The only school consolidation plan that works for the Burnet Consolidated ISD utilizing current facilities as they are is to move Grade 2 students from Shady Grove Elementary to Burnet Elementary and Grade 3 from Shady Grove to RJ Richey Elementary, school trustees were told Monday evening.

With a sharp budget deficit looming for at least the next two school years, the trustees held a workshop to hear the results of a facility consolidation study done recently by the district’s architect, Pfluger and Associates.

Shady Grove, built in 2001, is the newest of the three elementary schools in Burnet, but it also is the smallest and while Burnet Elementary is large enough to accommodate extra students, it is the oldest, with construction dating back to 1964, and much of its space is in need of major renovation or replacement, the study showed.

"The bottom line is we have options,” BCISD Superintendent Keith McBurnett said. "We expect to make a recommendation to the board at the Feb. 18 meeting.”

Fluger and Associates also reported some initial findings of a master facility planning study that focused specifically on the elementary schools.

"We are looking at consolidation, but also renovation,” McBurnett said.

For more of this story, see Wednesday's Burnet Bulletin.