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The Franklin City School Board voted 7-0 on Thursday, March 21, to adopt the nearly $5.1 million Franklin City Public Schools Capital Improvement Plan as presented for fiscal year 2025 through FY 2029.

FCPS Director of Operations Dr. Clint Walters presented the CIP to the board, outlining the intent of the plan.

“This is intended to help drive some of the work that we have ahead of us due both to our aging infrastructure but also because we’re trying to make sure that the facilities that we have for our students match the innovative ideas that we’re bringing into the classroom,” he said.

His presentation noted that Capital Improvement Plans typically project needs five to 10 years in advance to allow the governing body an opportunity to secure funding to support this work. 

“There are two primary methods that local governing bodies can use to help school divisions fund this work, because as a school division, we don’t have borrowing authority, so we have to lean into our governing body for that assistance,” he said.

His presentation noted that funding is provided through revenue attributed to the operating budget, and debt service.

“The best way that I can explain debt service is it’s like your mortgage where we borrow money and then we pay that back in monthly installments,” he said.

Just prior to listing the specifics of the CIP, he said, “What I have for you is a plan for FY 25-FY 29, and that will be reviewed annually because needs do arise and take priority.”

FY 2025 featured seven projects.

FISCAL YEAR 2025

1.) FHS roof renovation – Phase II

• funding source: literary loan and construction fund
• estimated cost: $1,700,157.70

2.) SPM roof renovation – Phase II

• funding source: literary loan
• estimated cost: $805,829.30

3.) SPM HVAC renovation – Phase I

• funding source: carryover and School Construction Assistance Program
• estimated cost: $630,000

4.) FHS restroom renovations

• funding source: ESSER III
• estimated cost: $250,000

5.) JPK Culinary Arts Fire Suppression System

• funding source: Unknown
• estimated cost: $57,000

6.) FCPS traditionally fueled bus

• funding source: Unknown
• estimated cost: $145,000

7.) JPK generator for shelter purposes

• funding source: Unknown
• estimated cost: $100,000

The total estimated cost for the FY 2025 projects in the CIP is $3,687,987.

Walters noted that included among the FY 25 projects was Phase II of the roof renovations at S.P. Morton Elementary School and Franklin High School.

“We just received word early this week that the literary loan applications were approved for us, and we’re very, very excited to be able to move forward with the next phase of that work,” he said.

As he went down through the list of FY 25 projects, he said, “We will need to update the fire suppression system at (J.P. King Jr. Middle School) as we plan to move our culinary arts program to that facility.”

Addressing the last item on the list, he said, “And one of the things that came to my attention as I was reviewing our shelter plan with the city — JPK is a secondary shelter in the event that we had an emergency and needed to open that up for our citizens. But one of the obstacles that we currently have in our way is that we don’t have a generator at that facility, and it’s important that we treat our backup site as if it’s our primary site. 

“We’ve got to get a generator there, so that’s one of the things that we’ll need to have some conversation with the city about how they would like to partner to make that happen, but in the event that we’ll need to purchase that, I have estimated about $100,000,” he said.

FISCAL YEAR 2026

1.) Repair and resurface FHS teacher parking lot

• funding source: Unknown
• estimated cost: $76,800

2.) HVAC upgrade in the FHS gymnasium

• funding source: Unknown
• estimated cost: $120,000

3.) SPM HVAC Renovation – Phase II

• funding source: Unknown
• estimated cost: $630,000

4.) Resurface FHS track

• funding source: Unknown
• estimated cost: $200,000

5.) Resurfacing FHS tennis courts

• funding source: Unknown
• estimated cost: $50,000

The total estimated cost for the FY 2026 projects in the CIP is $1,076,800.

“For FY 26, we are planning to repair and resurface the teacher parking lot at Franklin High School,” Walters said. “That is something that really needs some attention, and if there are other funding streams that open up prior to FY 26, that is something that we’ll look at moving up.”

FISCAL YEAR 2027

1.) Traditionally fueled bus

• funding source: Unknown
• estimated cost: $145,000

2.) JPK greenhouse

• funding source: Unknown
• estimated cost: $38,000

3.) Work truck with lift for maintenance

• funding source: Operating budget
• estimated cost: $60,000

The total estimated cost for the FY 2027 projects in the CIP is $243,000.

Going through this list of projects, Walters said, “We would like to expand our (Career and Technical Education) offerings if we have the opportunity to move our programs to the middle school, at which time, we would need to reconstruct a greenhouse. And based on a comparable greenhouse that we have at the high school right now, that’s estimated to be about $38,000.”

FISCAL YEARS 2028 AND 2029

Walters said, “We don’t currently have any capital improvement plans budgeted or scheduled for FY 28, but in FY 29, we would like to purchase another traditionally fueled school bus.”

The estimated cost for that bus was listed as $145,000.

“What I hope that you’re seeing is that we’re trying to address the aging fleet by purchasing a bus about every two or three years,” Walters said, noting that the average lifespan of a bus is 12 to 15 years. “Even when we receive our electric buses that we should have within the next two to three months, still more than half of our fleet is over that lifespan. So we’re trying to get a cycle established as we move forward.”

TOTAL FINANCIAL IMPACT

Near the end of his presentation, Walters noted that the proposed Capital Improvement Plan outlined expenses totaling $5,075,987 over the next five fiscal years.

“I’m requesting that the board adopt our Capital Improvement Plan as presented for FY 25 through FY 29,” he said.

Ward 2 Board Member Arwen Councill evaluated the $5.1 million plan and said, “This is a lot cheaper than building a new school. Some people might be thinking that these are really high numbers, but a new school is like $100 million, so we’ve got to take care of what we have.”