This is the first in a series looking at projects included in an Enid Public Schools proposed bond issue election. The series continues daily through Dec. 9. Anyone wishing to submit questions about the proposal can e-mail them to trasp@enidnews.com.

By Tippi Rasp

Staff Writer

The master of scheduling at one Enid elementary school isn’t the principal, it’s a building — the multi-purpose gymnasium/cafeteria/auditorium.

Class schedules, lunch periods, special programs and even one teacher’s planning hour all revolve around the physical education and lunch schedule at Adams Elementary School, because the building they use for all three is one and the same.

“They feed 200 kids in here in the mornings,” longtime PE teacher Jerry Fletcher said.

For the last six or seven minutes of Fletcher’s 30-minute PE class, just before lunch, students share the space with tables in anticipation of lunch, which runs 11:30 a.m. to about 12:30 p.m.

“Our distractions come from all places,” Fletcher said. “But I’m not complaining. We do the best we can.”

Sweaty children and garlic bread

The staff at Adams Elementary School has gotten good at making do, but none quite as good as Fletcher and the child nutritionists — all of whom share the same building.

“We just take it day by day,” Principal Beverly James said. “We are so good at being flexible.”

The nutritionists, housed on the west end of the gymnasium, try to make sure they close the door to their work area — a bouncing ball could wreak havoc rolling around workers’ feet amid hot ovens and large trays of food.

Nutritionists Gail Wills and Renee Andersen have gotten good at working in tight spaces. They wash exceptionally large pans in small sinks, and their computer system is tucked behind the door.

“It’s hard on everyone, but this is his (Fletcher’s) classroom,” Anderson said.

Fletcher, who has been teaching at Adams since 1990, says it gets tricky sometimes planning lessons around the set up and break down of lunch and breakfast tables and equipment. The staff also has to have time to mop the floors before PE classes can begin.

The PE teacher and nutritionists share storage space, and Fletcher goes through the small kitchen to get to his office.

James said it isn’t too hard to decide what’s more overwhelming when she visits gym — the smell of sweaty children or the smell of sweaty children mixed with the aroma of garlic bread.

In addition to the scheduling problems, teachers and administrators are faced with additional worries during inclement weather.

Most elementary school students go to the school gymnasium when it rains or is too cold to play outside. Adams students must return to class because the cafeteria already is in use by students on the second lunch rotation.

“When you have a separate cafeteria, you don’t have a problem with something to do,” James said. “We just pray if its cloudy that it doesn’t rain so we can let the kids go outside.”

$11.5 million districtwide bond issue

But those problems could be obsolete if school officials, board members and staff members get their wish.

A proposal being put before voters would provide the funds to build a cafeteria for the school, eliminating a need to share space with the gym and auditorium when a program is being held on the stage at the east end.

The plan also would provide improvements to other school sites, new technology equipment and buses.

Polls will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Dec. 11, and two questions totaling $11.5 million are on the ballot for Enid Public Schools district voters.

Superintendent Kem Keithly said the propositions are a continuation of the 2003 campaign, and funds will provide needed facility, transportation and technology upgrades.

Todd Earl, local businessman and chairman of the 2003 campaign, has volunteered to lead the current campaign to secure more funds he says the district needs to meet long-range goals.

The current measures scheduled for the Dec. 11 election ballot would increase property taxes by 3.9 percent.

For example, someone who currently pays $500 in property taxes annually would see an increase of less than $20 a year. Someone who pays $1,000 annually in property taxes would see an increase of just less than $40 a year.

‘Light at the end of the tunnel’

James said the improvements approved by voters in 2003 already have made a difference and are “encouraging.” She said the student relocations and logistical problems associated with the ongoing renovations have “been the least of the problem.”

A new cafeteria would take the strain off students and staff.

“That’s what we want so bad,” James said. “We would like to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”