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Below the overview of the district are links to KBIA's coverage of Columbia 93 district schools, updated as more stories are published. Columbia 93 at a glanceThe Columbia 93 school district currently includes 32 different schools. In 2014, the district had a k-12 enrollment of 17,204 students, which is 2% of the total k-12 enrollment for the state. Enrollment has been slightly increasing in recent years, 2% since 2011. While a small percent, that amounts to almost 400 more students. There have also been major re-drawing of attendance areas with the addition of Battle High School. Middle school attendance areas shape high school boundaries 00000178-cc7d-da8b-a77d-ec7d2f9e0000The changes have affected all schools in the district, including causing high school attendance to increase and overcrowding at one middle school at least.

Douglass High School to be Renovated

Maggie Angst
/
KOMU

Columbia’s Douglass High School is set to undergo major renovations beginning next summer.

Plans for the 99-year-old school include $5 million in upgrades for services including heating, air conditioning, and electrical and water systems. An additional $1.4 million will be allocated to classroom renovations including remodeling a kitchen for a culinary class, the addition of a music curriculum and a new classroom for teaching construction-related skills.

Columbia Public Schools Community Relations Director Michelle Baumstark said that based on the current condition of the school and its facilities, these renovations are necessary.

“There’s something to be said for taking pride in the facility in which you’re learning, and for that facility to be able to meet today’s demands for what learning entails whether it be hands-on learning through our career education courses, or being in a classroom that is able to support the necessary technology that students need today,” Baumstark said.

Baumstark also said these renovations will also help to enhance curricular features within the school.

“They’ll be able to have facilities to better meet what the curriculum requirements are for culinary arts, for construction mechanical skills and of course having a more genuine music program than what they have now,” Baumstark said. “So much of it is because those are hands-on-learning-type courses, and so much of it is also having the appropriate facility space in order to meet the demands of what is outlined in the curriculum.”

Douglass High School serves as an alternative school for more than 200 students, and Baumstark said students and faculty will be temporarily relocating during the 2016-2017 school year. She said CPS is still looking for a space that will meet the educational needs of school curriculum programming. The project is expected to be completed by the start of the 2017-2018 school year.   

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