'Green' school to be studied

By Joe DejkaWORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Two big questions face South Sarpy school district officials as they ponder opening an environmental studies focus school.

First, are there enough children in the Omaha area interested in a green education?
Second, would those students be willing to drive clear across town to attend the school?
Members of the South Sarpy school board have authorized $52,000 for a consultant to get them the answers.

The DLR Group plans to draw up a list of potential classes for the new school, then survey parents and students about their interest, estimate costs, figure ways to pay for the school and report their findings to the board in August.

Pat Phelan, a director of K-12 development for the DLR Group, said the idea of an environmental high school has piqued the interest of a variety of organizations, including the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, natural resources districts, the Omaha Public Power District and the Metropolitan Utilities District.

“Everybody we've talked to has said, ‘Sure, we'll come to the table,'” Phelan said.
A potential model for the school can be found in Minnesota's Apple Valley, where the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan Public Schools opened the School of Environmental Studies in 1994, he said. The school immerses students in environmental issues, and students often work alongside professionals.

It opened with 400 students, and demand remains high, with some students driving more than an hour to school, Phelan said.

South Sarpy Superintendent Chuck Chevalier said the district hopes to work with the Learning Community of Douglas and Sarpy Counties to build the school, tentatively to serve 400 students in grades nine through 12.

The Learning Community Council is developing criteria for approving focus schools that would serve students in all 11 member school districts, subject to socioeconomic diversity targets. The learning community can pay for up to half the construction costs of focus schools.
Chevalier said the district would try to find grants to cover the cost, but construction may require a bond issue.

Faced with declining enrollment, however, the investment could be a way for the district to boost its enrollment, officials say.

The school board probably would decide next fall on whether to move forward, with a goal of opening in fall 2012.