The Indianola Schools District Facilities Task Force recommended the “Replace in Place” option for improvements to Indianola High School earlier this month, which the school board accepted and is now waiting for the process to continue.

Laura Peterson with Invision Architecture, who is assisting the district with the project, tells KNIA News there was some feedback from the community about building a new high school, which is perhaps the best long term option, but it would stretch the district’s finances and present new problems.

“People like where the high school is within our community. It’s embedded in a neighborhood, and has a great relationship to the middle school and the resources of the stadium and athletic fields, and we like that connection. Generally we are looking at about 60 acres which is what it would take to build a high school for the student population we are looking at, more than likely somewhere on the perimeter of town. So that leads to a lot of conversations of where we can build, how can we get access to land, so a difficult conversation of where we can build, then the next question is what do we do with the existing school. That’s an unknown if we were to pursue that option.”

Peterson also said if a new high school was the option, it would take nearly all of the district’s resources for facilities over the next decade, and that would put a hold on all other projects during that time. The process now goes out to the community for feedback to the school board and a petition of signatures if interest is high.