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Council approves FMHS ninth-grade center, sports field relocation
By Chris Roark, croark@starlocalnews.com
Life at Flower Mound High School will be a little different in about a year and a half after a vote Monday.
The Flower Mound Town Council approved site plans for the ninth-grade campus at the high school, as well as a new sports complex, which includes a tennis court, a baseball field and a softball field.
The ninth-grade campus was part of the 2008 bond package approved by voters.
It will also include a lecture hall, a media center and a cyber cafe.
As part of the project, a black box theater will be constructed adjacent to the existing auditorium, and a basketball arena would be built near the field house.
FMHS Principal Sonya Lail said the facility is crucial to address an already overcrowded campus. She said the campus has 3,200 students now, and she expects there to be about 3,300 next year.
"Teachers have to float, and our students are packed in," Lail said. "This is a good thing, and it's time to make a change."
Lail also said it's important for ninth-graders to have their own space to make the transition into high school.
Science teacher Demona Shipman said the new center will allow students to have more space for hands-on activities and will allow teachers to do team teaching since some walls are removable.
To make room for the ninth-grade center, LISD plans to move three sports facilities across the school on Peters Colony Road.
District officials said it's necessary to continue with the ninth-grade campus plan, adding that the location across from the high school is the best place for the relocation.
"This allows us to have more square footage," said Sherika Nelson, FMHS girls athletic coordinator. "We need more equitable space, and this facility would give us that."
Residents expressed concern with the possible noise and lights that would come from the fields.
"We bought this house knowing that we had a nice buffer," said resident Todd Smith, whose property backs up to the proposed fields. "Now we have no buffer. We keep hearing people say that we need to take one for the team. Well how about LISD taking one for the team?"
Smith requested that music not be played between batters and between innings.
Michael Perry, LISD's executive director of new construction, said the district will use shuttered lights, they will be aimed toward the bleachers and away from the homes and that they will adhere to the town's strict light ordinance.
The Flower Mound baseball and softball coaches said there would be between seven to 10 home games per sport each season, which runs from February to May. They said the lights would be turned off by 10 p.m. Perry said lights at the tennis court should be turned off by 10 p.m. as well.
As far as noise, Perry said the speakers will be aimed toward the bleachers and not the outfield, which backs up to the adjacent neighborhood.
Perry also said noise can be addressed by keeping the music volume turned down low, establishing the proper pre-sets and making sure the coaches are in control of the press box.
Other measures Perry said the district will take to address lights and/or sound include a 25-foot landscaping buffer between the outfield and the neighborhood property line, plus an additional 60-foot compatibility setback. There will also be a 10-foot masonry wall, plus an 8-foot downward slope from the top of the wall to the center field ground.
There will also be a plan in place for residents to contact the district if the light or noise becomes a problem late at night.
Council members were concerned about students crossing Old Settlers Road since the new building would be next to the road. Councilman Steve Dixon suggested a mid-block crosswalk on Peters Colony Road to provide safety for students walking to the sports complex.
Doug Powell, Flower Mound's executive director of development services, said LISD is going to build a crosswalk at the intersection of Old Settlers and Peters Colony roads. He said the town is looking into improvements at that intersection that could include additional southbound and eastbound right-hand turn lanes.
Powell said the existing traffic on Peters Colony would be improved since most of the parents dropping off their children would use the east side of the campus.
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