Members of the Wayland Board of Education examined sketches of the proposed new swim pool for Wayland High School at Monday night’s work session.
Supt. Tim Reeves presented slides of architects’ drawings of the structure, which was the biggest piece of the $49.7 million Wayland Unions Schools’ bond project approved by voters in May 2023.
“We have construction designs page turns before it goes out to bid,” Reeves told the board. He added that bids will be presented at the Dec. 12 meeting.
The board is expected to award bis at it regular meeting in January.
Reeves said the new pool is expected to be 40 percent larger in size than the old pool now being razed. Board members also learned that the facility will be 35 meters long and it exceeds state requirements.
That last part is important because the old pool, besides becoming aged, was deemed to be inadequate in handling recommended depths for the starting blocks. Therefore, the Wildcat swim team could not have traditional dual meets and invitationals without having to use tedious in-pool starts during competitions. The pool was slapped with the lack of meets since the 2002-03 season, more than 20 years.
Leslie Wagner, director of facilities and operations, reported that the new pool will be able to handle a capacity of 295 in the building.
In other business at the work session, the board:
- Fielding questions and answers about handling the fifth year of its five-year strategic plan. The focus now is on promoting more community involvement and engagement
“It’s a real challenge,” Reeves acknowledged, noting that two public forums attracted only a little more than a dozen in the first one and three in the second.
“But we’re not alone in that, whether it’s with churches, organizations and chambers,” he added. “It’s been a topic of conversation for a long time.”
• Was told that a decline in student population is projected because the same decline is predicted for all of Michigan. He said that since the Great Recession of 2008, the state has lost people, and schools are not immune. However, said declines are not as severe in Ottawa, Kent and Allegan counties.
