LOWELL | It might not have the terrazzo floors or the pitched roof lines originally desired, but the new Lowell Middle School will have the space students need.

"We really are out of space," Tri-Creek School Corp. Superintendent Alice Neal said. "We've been seeing about 75 to 100 (new) kids a year for the past four or five years. Our elementaries are full to the point we're using portables."

Tri-Creek's $42 million middle school plan is just one of many statewide and a handful locally that have been scaled back to various degrees in order to meet the state's muster for new school construction costs. Neal said officials had to cut about $3 million in order to get the green light, even though there was no opposition from the community.

East Porter County School Corp. Superintendent Rod Gardin said his district has a similar space crunch, namely at the elementary level. They also have been using portable classrooms -- used rather than new -- to save money at Kouts and Morgan Township schools to ease overcrowding.

"We saw the spike about three years ago when we had about 125 new students at one time," Gardin said. "Our demographics study projects we'll continue to grow."

Wanting to be better stewards of their taxpayer base, Gardin said the district voluntarily cut $4.5 million from its plan and focused on adding classrooms and other necessary spaces to the two buildings before submitting it for state approval.

"All the community spoke very highly of the project," Gardin said. "I think confining our scope to what was needed helped."

With the cuts, the $20.5 million plan to add eight classrooms, plus a dining area and a combined elementary and middle school gymnasium to Kouts School, and eight classrooms, as well as renovated dining and kitchen areas at Morgan Township Elementary passed the state's School Property Tax Control Board and review by the Department of Local Government Finance without alteration.

Knowing how many classrooms are needed to ease the existing overcrowding and allow for future growth in Lowell, Neal said officials had to trim some of the extras in order to meet the state's cost-per-square-foot standards.

"We looked at everything," Nate Kleefisch, the district's operations director, said. "We even looked at ceiling heights. That saved costs and didn't alter the logistics of the project."

Officials also went with a cheaper roofing plan and nixed terrazzo floors for vinyl tile.

Neal said some of those moves will cost more in the long haul, as they aren't likely to last as long and will require more maintenance, but they'll get the job done.

"There are some changes that are either now or later," she said.

A swimming pool at the new Hobart High School is another one of those things that will have to come later. Despite facing no public opposition, the state required the School City of Hobart to cut about $6.5 million from its high school plan. The pool became the sacrificial lamb for the project, but plans were left in place to add it when feasible.

Plans for the new high school started forming in 2002 when a community-led study recommended maintaining the existing neighborhood schools and building a new high school, Superintendent Peggy Buffington said. The plan eventually morphed to include transforming the current high school into the district's middle school, due to high projected costs of maintaining the middle school building, large portions of which were constructed by the Works Projects Administration during the Great Depression.

That building will be donated to the city for possible use as a municipal government center. Meanwhile, the new $62.8 million high school, scheduled to open to students Jan. 5, is about 90 percent complete, Buffington said. Because of its progress, students might be able to move in a little earlier than planned.

"The way we're looking at things, more than likely, we will have the transition to move them over before the (winter) break," Buffington said. "Everything is on schedule."

Hobart is operating on a fairly strict time line. High school students need to vacate the current building in January in order to complete about $11 million in renovation work. Contractors have said middle school students and teachers should be able to move in August 2009.

Buffington said by building the new school and better utilizing existing buildings, both high school and middle school students will benefit from the project.

"The existing high school will make a terrific middle school," Buffington said. "There aren't too many with an auditorium and a pool."

* A $45 million project is under way in the Crown Point Community School Corp. to add onto the high school and double the size of Eisenhower Elementary School.

* Gary Community School Corp. officials are examining the state of all the district's facilities and considering a consolidation and renovation plan.

* Hanover Community School Corp. received approval from the Department of Local Government Finance for a new middle school in February after the state School Property Tax Control Board gave the $34 million plan, which includes renovations to the district's other buildings, an unfavorable recommendation.

* The School City of Hammond has a $165 million plan to replace the current Hammond High School and convert Gavit High School into a middle school. The state School Property Tax Control Board rejected the plan last month, sending it to the Department of Local Government Finance for a final decision, expected before the end of 2008.

* With a $1.4 million expansion of the high school's commons area nearly complete, Lake Central School Corp. officials are eyeing a plan hovering near $97 million to further expand the high school, adding classrooms and renovating existing areas. The tentative price tag also includes athletics upgrades and new administration and transportation centers.

* Merrillville Community School Corp. is adding a new freshman wing at the high school and additional classrooms at Pierce Middle School in a $55.8 million project.

* Tri-Creek School Corp. has a new $42 million Lowell Middle School going up. The school will accommodate growth at both the middle school and elementary schools, some of which are using portable classrooms. As part of the plan, fifth-grade classes will be moved to the middle school while officials determine whether additions to existing elementary buildings or a new school are feasible.

* East Porter County School Corp. is building $20.5 million additions to Kouts School and Morgan Township Elementary in order to accommodate rapid growth at both schools. Some classes now are housed in used portable classrooms.

* Increased enrollment projections have Portage Township Schools officials eyeing an expansion and renovation of Willowcreek Middle School, creating a sixth-grade wing where high school vocational classes now are housed. The rooms now occupied by sixth-graders would more than accommodate the projected growth. A sluggish housing market has temporarily relaxed the project's timetable.

* Porter Township School Corp. also is looking at various options since buildings are at capacity with enrollment expected to grow.

* Union Township School Corp. is looking into a new elementary school to replace an aging and overcrowded building, and adding on to the district's other school buildings for about $25 million.

* The Valparaiso Community Schools are considering a large-scale project that would close seven elementary schools and construct four new elementary buildings. The possibility of full-day kindergarten and the desire for increased technology offerings is fueling that plan. Building the first two schools would cost an estimated $65 million.]]>

Lake County

Andrean High School -- Thursday

Bishop Noll Institute -- Aug. 22

Crown Point Community School Corp. -- Aug. 20 half day; Aug. 21 full day

Gary Community School Corp. -- Aug. 20

Griffith Public Schools -- Wednesday half day; Thursday full day

Hanover Community School Corp. -- Aug. 20

Lake Central School Corp. -- Aug. 21 half day; Aug. 22, full day

Lake Ridge Schools -- Aug. 19 half day; Aug. 20 full day

Lake Station Community Schools -- Aug. 19 half day high school, all day elementary

Merrillville Community Schools -- Aug. 20 half day for kindergarten through fourth grade; full day for all others

River Forest Community School Corp. -- Aug. 20

School City of East Chicago -- Aug. 20

School City of Hammond -- Aug. 20

School Town of Highland -- Aug. 20 half day; Aug. 21 full day

School City of Hobart -- Aug. 22, morning only; Aug. 23 full day

School Town of Munster -- Aug. 22

Tri-Creek School Corp. -- Tuesday

Whiting School City -- Aug. 22

Porter County

MSD Boone Township -- Aug. 20 half day for all students

Duneland School Corp. -- Aug. 20

East Porter County School Corp. -- Aug. 20

Portage Township Schools -- Aug. 20

Porter Township School Corp. -- Aug. 20

Union Township School Corp. -- Aug. 20

Valparaiso Community Schools -- Aug. 20]]>