Board weighs $73,000 design request for multipurpose indoor sports facility; Title IX risk flagged

Mister Simpson, who presented the capital projects packet, recommended replacing the existing batting-cage footprint with a code-compliant, multipurpose indoor facility and adding restrooms, and asked the board to authorize about $73,000 from this year’s capital funds to pay for design work.

The administration framed the structure as a multiuse building that could serve baseball, softball, band and other programs and said using the existing concrete pad could reduce utility costs. Simpson told the board the requested $73,000 includes a contingency above the estimated $69,000 design cost "because anytime you start into these, sometimes the design could take you any which way and we need to explore a little bit more." (Mister Simpson)

Board members pressed for scope and cost certainty. One board member said, "a $144,000 for a design seems like a lot of money" and asked whether the district should postpone design work until it can ensure funding for construction. (Board member) Simpson replied that without design the district cannot produce reliable cost estimates and that splitting the project into a base bid (the multipurpose batting area) with the restroom as an alternate would allow the board to choose what to fund at bid time. (Mister Simpson)

Superintendent Reade cautioned that the current batting-cage arrangement — which he said is used only by the baseball program — poses legal risk: "we could be facing a Title 9 lawsuit if someone were to do that." (Superintendent Reade) Board members debated whether offering shared access to the existing facility or repurposing other nearby restrooms could mitigate that risk; some members urged exploring reconfiguration to reduce expense while addressing equity concerns. (Board member; Mister Simpson)

Simpson said the administration will explore reuse options and technical feasibility (including whether baseball and softball fields can share configurations) but emphasized that some matters, such as pitching-mound distances, may limit a simple conversion. He also told the board that if the item is not acted on tonight, staff will return with answers and that formal approval will be taken at the next regular board meeting. (Mister Simpson; Superintendent Reade)

The board did not vote on the design authorization during the committee session; the administration said any action would be scheduled for the next regular board meeting in March.