There's a new Gahanna-Lincoln High School. Students moved in last week. The old high school had several connected buildings constructed over many decades. The new school, which is the only Gahanna-Lincoln high school for the district serves about 2,400 students.
WOSU’s Debbie Holmes spoke with Principal Jessica Williams.
Debbie Holmes: Now your security is very tight. You cannot just walk into the building. It is locked. Tell me about that.
Jessica Williams: We're very fortunate and excited about our security features here in this building. We have a delayed entry, a secure vestibule. We also have delayed entry even out of the main office into the actual building.
Debbie Holmes: So how much better do you think this facility is compared to what you had? You had buildings A, B, and C, and then you had Clark Hall across the street.
Jessica Williams: This building provides us with an opportunity to keep our students safe. As you mentioned about Clark Hall, students having to cross the street all day long presents a challenge and increases our risk of things happening during the school day.
And being all in one building under one roof has shaped our culture and changed it drastically. Having our seniors stay for closed lunch has helped our commons area in the lunchtime be a more student-friendly environment where there's no horseplay and it's a time for eating and recharging and connecting with your peers.
Debbie Holmes: How does this help students learn?
Jessica Williams: It allows them to find the space that meets their needs. This building has a lot of different spaces in it.
Whether you need time alone in a small group room or want to be in an extended learning area where there are others there that you can collaborate with and talk to and provides opportunities for teachers to conference one-on-one with kids in a private way but still be close by the other students in their classroom. So, it really allows our students to find a space. In the building that meets their learning needs.
Debbie Holmes: This all cost a lot of money. And in 2020, voters approved a controversial tax levy and bond issue to help pay for the new high school. Do you think the district is properly funded now?
Jessica Williams: You know, I would say that we're grateful, one, and fortunate that our community said yes. And our kids and our staff feel that every single day when they walk in here, the amount of thank yous that we get and smiles about how much they love this building. And so, right now and in the moment, yes, I would say we are properly funded and operating at a level that allows our students to thrive.
Debbie Holmes: Did the budget go over? What was the estimated cost or was it right on schedule?
Jessica Williams: Yes, our finance and operations teams did a great job of monitoring the budget and we came in right where we needed to be to finish the project, finish it strong and have all the resources we need for our students.
Debbie Holmes: What was that number?
Jessica Williams: It was over $180 million for the cost of this building.
Debbie Holmes: How long do you think the facility and all the bells and whistles here will keep up with student population and the needs in Gahanna?
Jessica Williams: I think it'll keep up for generations of Lions. This building was intentionally designed to do just that. We know that this is a one-in-a-century opportunity. And so, in the design process, we were very intentional about not designing a space for right now based on the pain points we might've felt in the old building in Clark Hall, but for future Lions to come. So, I do think the bells and whistles have been set in place to propel us into the future well beyond where we are right now.
Debbie Holmes: Can we talk about restrooms? How many more restrooms are there in this building?
Jessica Williams: We do have more restrooms in this building. Number-wise, I couldn't give that to you, but the design of them is important to us to help keep our students safe and using them in appropriate ways. And so, we have them all over the building. We have ADA-compliant restrooms.
We have staff restrooms, which we didn't have in the old building. And so, we also have single-stall restrooms for our students to use throughout the building. A Lot more restrooms to help accommodate our large student population.
Debbie Holmes: Have there been any glitches in the first week that you've all been in the building?
Jessica Williams: Naturally, right, you're learning your new space, but I wouldn't say that they were glitches that were major hiccups. It's one, it's us learning our new space and how to operate transitioning between classes or signage and wayfinding, making sure students understand how to find their way around the building.
So, nothing major, but just more operational how we do things, not something not working for us.
Debbie Holmes: When will the old structures be demolished?
Jessica Williams: They'll start that process around February-March time frame and at which time once that's complete it will be much needed parking for us.
