JACKSONVILLE — The Jacksonville Independent School District Board of Trustees got a sneak peek at what the new East Side and Joe Wright elementaries could look like at a special session meeting Tuesday night.

Kevin Smith, Jeff Edwards and Jeffrey Floyd with Claycomb Associates Architects of Dallas presented the initial schematics of the two new campuses, showing approximately how the square footage of each new building will be arranged.

“We’re in the schematic design phase,” Smith told Board members, explaining that the current phase of the process was to decide the “nuts and bolts” and function of each building on its site.

The team presented a one-story plan for East Side, to be constructed on the current site of the school, and a two-story plan for Joe Wright, to be constructed on JISD-owned property on the corner of Pineda Street and U.S. 175.

Increased accommodation of students at East Side was debated heavily when the Board discussed the pros and cons of a single-story vs. a double-story structure on the site.

“What are we losing in terms of classrooms by going with one story?” asked Board member Blaine Verhelle. “My main concern is I don’t want to be in the same place where we are now (with limited space).”

Superintendent Dr. Joe Wardell explained, though, that East Side, with its approximately 700 students currently, does not have the acreage to support additional students at its current site.

He said East Side sits on just over 9 acres of land, while it is recommended to have 17 acres.

“That is not an ideal site at all, in my opinion,” said Board President James Houser, “but that is where the community wanted it, which is fine.”

He added that because the community wanted to keep East Side as a neighborhood elementary, expansion of that particular school was not possible.

Smith added that the JISD principals said a 700-student campus is the ideal size, so increasing the number of students at East Side would make the campus larger that what the district’s elementary principals deemed ideal.

Wardell also explained that between the new East Side and Joe Wright campuses and the renovations to be done at Fred Douglass Elementary, the district would increase its elementary space by about 18 percent, whereas projections show only an annual growth rate of 1 percent.

Students would also be moved to campuses with fewer students in order to accommodate growth, Wardell said.

Features of both campuses include:

• Increased security with exterior lighting, interior surveillance, and possibly key-swipe entrances for people entering the buildings;

• Security vestibules blocking access into the main portion of the school without first checking in through the front office;

• Curb drop-off so students do not walk through vehicle traffic to reach the building;

• Windows and skylights to bring external light into all common areas and classrooms without externally facing walls;

• Uniformly sized classrooms (800 square feet each with a 50-55 square foot closet);

• Increased numbers of on-site parking spaces and “stack space” for cars waiting in line to pick up or drop off students;

• High school regulation-sized courts in the gyms with bleachers along one wall;

• Stages that can be used from either side positioned between the dining room and gym at each school so small or large gatherings can be accommodated; and

• The ability to lock off classroom portions of the school during events held at the school.

The Board voted unanimously to approve the schematic designs for East Side and Joe Wright elementaries.

Smith said he and his associates would bring a presentation from the design development phase of the two schools to the February Board meeting, in which trustees would get to see more of what the campuses will look like.

Also, Rachel Payne, auditor, gave the district a positive financial audit for 2009-2010.

“I think your district is doing a great job,” she said, after reporting that the district had no problems with internal controls or compliance on the items audited. “You got very good reports.”

She also congratulated the district on the five-star FAST rating it received.

“Very few districts receive that,” she said.