Windham Taxpayers

September 4, 2008
Eagle Tribune

WINDHAM, N.H. — Athletic Director Bill Raycraft doesn’t have any sports teams, physical education classes or coaches. In fact, Raycraft doesn’t even have a school — yet.

But Raycraft has plenty to do in the year before Windham High School opens next August.

Superintendent Frank Bass calls Raycraft’s mission a daunting one.

It includes everything from determining what teams the school will field and whether there will be junior varsity and varsity squads, to hiring all the coaches and working with the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association to schedule all the games.

He also must build a physical education program for the school.

“It’s a daunting task — no question about it,” Bass said. “But one of the reasons we chose him is because we sensed he had that kind of ability, including perseverance and fortitude, to get the job done and done well.”

Raycraft, 40, was most recently the athletic director at John Stark Regional High School in Weare. He’s the son of a veteran athletic director. He said starting an athletic program from scratch is challenging but exciting.

“I’m wearing many hats,” Raycraft said. “One hour I’m working on new curriculum for the physical education and wellness program for the high school, the next hour I’m looking at what sports we will play on which fields. It’s a high school being built on a lot of research. We’re taking the best components from other high schools and bringing them to Windham.”

R. Patrick Corbin, a former Salem High School principal and now executive director of the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association, said he was impressed by Raycraft when he was at John Stark Regional High School.

Corbin said he knows what it’s like to create a new athletics program — and he doesn’t envy Raycraft. Corbin oversaw the creation of an athletics program at Nashua North High School, where he served as that school’s first principal.

“I have a good sense of how monumental a task it is to start an athletic program,” Corbin said. “But I think Windham school officials made a good choice with Bill Raycraft. He’s bright. He has a good analytical mind, and I know he’s excited about the new school and his role as athletic director.”

Raycraft said he has enjoyed watching the school’s athletics facilities take shape since he came onboard July 1.

“It’s sort of like watching your child grow,” he said. “Seeing the facilities in drawings is one thing. But it’s a different feeling when you walk into the gym or other facilities and see them coming along.”

The heart of the athletics program will be in the gym.

“I think the gym will be a centerpiece of the school,” he said. “It’s going to be a place where students will be proud to host events. It will be large enough to hold 1,200 people and for practices for two teams at the same time.”

The gym will have an adjacent weight lifting/fitness room and a separate cardiac fitness room, equipped with treadmills and stationary bikes. While these rooms will be used for the physical education curriculum, students and teachers will be able to work out in them, too, Raycraft said.

Windham High School will open with a freshmen and sophomore enrollment of 335 next year. Those student athletes likely will face the Pelham High Pythons, Oyster River Bobcats and Bedford High Bulldogs in their inaugural year. They won’t, however, compete against nearby Pinkerton Academy, Londonderry High or Salem High, all much bigger schools.

Raycraft wants to give the first students attending Windham High a big say in what sports teams the school will field.

He surveyed Windham students who are freshmen at Salem High this year and will be sophomores at Windham High next year to find out what sports they want to play. As expected, football and basketball drew the most support.

Raycraft said he will survey eighth-graders at Windham Middle School, the students who will be the first freshman class at the new school.

He also has met with the athletic director at Bedford High School, which just completed its inaugural year. The athletic director there, Thor Nielson, told him what worked and what didn’t work in the opening year, Raycraft said.

He has reviewed the athletics facilities for the new school, many of which are still being built, and recommended the addition of a track and a multipurpose playing field with artificial turf.

“I think we have a gem in Bill Raycraft,” School Board Chairman Barbara Coish said. “I’m extremely happy with him. Being an athletic director is in his blood.”

He lives in Weare with his wife and 13-year-old daughter, but he may move closer to Windham, he said.

August 13, 2008
Salem Observer

Windham athletic director Bill Raycraft and School Board members agree the new high school is in need of a track, though building one may be several years off.

While the possible addition of a track surrounding a turf field is still in the conceptual phase, Raycraft described eventually building the facility as a necessity.

“What we’re looking for now is really necessities, not any of the frills,” he said. “Right now we have some concerns with going forward with what we have with fields.”

At the moment, the high school’s athletic facilities consists of five fields and a gymnasium. While Raycraft has not yet determined which sports – based on potential student participation and interest within the community – the high school will likely host when it opens in the fall of 2009, the limited existing facilities could pose a problem.

“There are certain things we’re going to be able to do. We’re going to have to look at our field situation and determine how soon,” Raycraft said. “Right now we don’t know what sports can be run. It will be known by next month. We haven’t discussed any of sports.”

Still, by not having a track and field, the athletic department has been put at a disadvantage, given the popularity of the sport, Raycraft said.

According to Athletic Committee member Chris O’Neil, the high school’s limited facilities will create a scheduling conflict for sports with overlapping schedules that share the same space, like wrestling, cheerleading and gymnastics. Having a football field without a second field to practice on will also present a problem, he said.

“Right now we’re going on the recommendations of our athletic director. His first priority is that track with the turf field,” said Beverly Donovan, a School Board member. “Right now we’re gathering the estimates. We’re only in the conceptual stage. We have all agreed that it is a high priority, but that doesn’t mean that it will be on the warrant this year.”

In March voters rejected a proposal for a second gym, three athletic fields and a multipurpose stadium with bleacher seating.

“It was not a wise idea to clump everything together,” said Barbara Coish, board chairman. “From stadiums to baseball fields to extra gyms and all of that is not going to be palatable to this public, and they didn’t vote for it. I think even the electorate will support a track eventually.”

She described a simple fenced-off track with a field inside as something that voters would be more likely to support in the coming years. Bruce Anderson, vice chairman of the School Board, agreed with Coish’s assessment.

“It wouldn’t be a full blown stadium. It might be built to a standard to someday add that layer, but get the field and track first,” Anderson said. “I’m optimistic when the town hears the need for those facilities that they’re going to support it.”

While a warrant article allocating the funds for the new facilities will not likely appear before voters within the next year, School Board members are confident that the high school will eventually host its own field and track.

In the meantime, with the school set to have classes limited to freshman and sophomore students in 2009, Raycraft has some room to maneuver.

“We want to listen to what the community wants,” he said.

August 8, 2008
Pelham-Windham News

School Board Asks Town Officials to Let High School Construction Rep Do His Job

Windham School Board members are concerned about the amount of time that the owners’ representative for the construction of the new high school is spending on projects not directly related to school district issues. In light of that concern, School Board Chairman Barbara Coish sent a letter to Town Administrator David Sullivan. That letter was read in public during the selectmen’s board meeting on Monday, July 28.

Glenn Davis is the person to whom the correspondence refers. “He is being pulled in a hundred directions,” Coish said of the job Davis is doing. “He’s more than out straight!” Rather than helping town officials with issues unrelated directly to the high school construction, Davis needs to be “concentrating on the project at hand” (i.e., the new Windham High School, which is expected to open to students in September of 2009), Coish said.

In her letter, on behalf of the entire Windham School Board, Coish writes to Sullivan that she is contacting him “with a request of great importance to the (school) board, which directly relates to the continued success of the high school construction project. I ask you to relay the following request to all Windham Selectmen, department heads, and agents. As school board chair, I am concerned with the amount of time that the construction representative, Glenn Davis, is spending on issues unrelated to the project for which he is responsible.”

“The owners’ representative is working well outside the contractual obligations of his agreement with the district and has willingly taken on other projects on behalf of the Windham School District as a whole,” Coish wrote. “This willingness to assist the district is consuming much of his valuable time, however, which concerns me greatly.”

In an effort to relieve some of the additional draws on Davis’ time, Coish requested that Sullivan instruct representatives of the town to contact either her or school board member Bruce Anderson directly, before contacting Davis about any issue that is unrelated to the project as presently permitted.

“I am sure that you will agree that it is of vital importance that Glenn Davis concentrate on the scope of his contract, in order to ensure that the high school project remains on schedule,” Coish said.

Following the reading of her letter at the meeting, Coish said that she believed her request “was already working.”

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School Board Hears Appeal for More Fields

Windham School Board has heard another appeal to add fields at Windham’s still unfinished high school.

Windham’s Athletic Director, Bill Raycraft, who came to Windham from John Stark Co-op High School, spoke at the recently held school board workshop. His topic was the need for more field space and the need for it sooner rather than later.

“We currently have five fields in the plans and being developed,” said Raycraft. “With those fields, four out of five are scheduled to be used for both practice and games, with the other field being the full-time practice field.”

According to Raycraft, Windham High School will play a predominately junior varsity schedule the first year that the school is open, but even that will crowd the fields. He also indicated that he expects to have a few varsity teams the first year. Over and over, Raycraft talked about the issues of field overuse and soil compaction.

Even with the current fields, there are concerns the very first year. “Only one soccer field will force back-to-back games when JV and Varsity teams are playing,” stated Raycraft, who pointed out that if the field is being used for a game by one team, then another team cannot practice. With both boys and girls teams, he said he didn’t know where all the teams would practice.

Raycraft has worked in an environment without adequate field space before and talked about his experiences at John Stark where parking lots, classrooms, and school hallways were used as practice space.

Fields that are used daily throughout the year have problems not associated with fields that can be rested for a season. Raycraft said that sod would have to be replaced, perhaps more than once a year, in order to maintain the fields in a suitable playing condition. However, sod replacement brings its own set of issues as fields cannot be used while sod is being laid and should not be used immediately after placement. Raycraft said this would negatively impact Windham school sports as well as community usage.

The replacement of sod would need to become a budget line item. No one gave an estimate for this, but later in the meeting it was stated that sod replacement, repairing compacted fields, and general maintenance on grass fields is much more expensive than using artificial turf.

Field hockey will use the outfield of the baseball field. The two teams have different field configurations and Raycraft expects to have dirt patches in the baseball outfield as a result. “We won’t have time to re-seed and grow grass between the two sports.”

He also pointed out that football will be unable to practice and play on one grass field. “With 60 to 80 players, the field will tear up and become unsafe due to compaction and loss of grass padding,” Raycraft said before he explained how the drills often tear up the sod, making a second field a necessity. He also said that the heavier the bodies, the more compaction the field shows.

By the second year, Raycraft expects to have more teams than can be accommodated at Windham High School fields. “We can cancel sports and not offer what our students will expect, or we can expand the fields. Neither wrestling nor cheerleading can be safely practiced in parking lots.” While many cheerleading teams practice in school cafeterias, Raycraft said that the Windham cafeteria will not be suitable for the cheerleaders.

“As we grow in enrollment and participation in athletics, we will have to look at locations for practices of various teams and need for auxiliary mini-gym,” he said. “With the large size of the main gymnasium, we will double up some teams, but even then we will be short of space.”

The lack of a track will force teams to practice in the parking lot, and Raycraft said it was difficult to simulate relay handoffs, impossible to practice long jumps, high jumps, or pole vaulting. “We will have no home meets for track, and many athletes from winter and fall sports run on the track team as a way to stay in shape.” He also noted that practicing in the parking lot brought its own set of safety concerns.

By the second year, Raycraft estimates that the high school will have six soccer teams. “The six soccer teams will tear up the field prior to the lacrosse season and there is no down time to repair that field. This is what happens when a field is in constant use — one season ends just as the next begins.”

Artificial turf was discussed at length. Both Glenn Davis and Raycraft talked out how the new artificial turf is easier to maintain and not as harsh for athletes who play on it. Raycraft said that putting down artificial turf would help stop compaction on fields used extensively and would alleviate the need to re-sod the fields between seasons. “You will definitely save money if you put down artificial turf.”

There was also discussion of going forward in the near future with an artificial turf field at the high school, using some of the money that is anticipated to be left over in the contingency fund.

During the discussion of an artificial turf field at the high school, school board members talked about using some of the money that is anticipated to be left over in the contingency fund. According to Davis, there’s $1.1 to $1.2 million left in the contingency fund for high school construction at this point. He also said the school is now 70 percent finished so he expects to have contingency dollars remaining.

Installing an artificial turf field by the time the high school opens next September would prevent over-use and the deterioration of the already approved sod athletic fields. The school board did not take any action on an artificial turn installation during the workshop.

Raycraft also made a case for building a track and for putting an artificial turf field inside the track. He asked that the board support surveying the land, showed a map with a potential location of a track, and had support from Davis on the proposed location.

The board consensus was to plan to include approximately $80,000 for engineering and surveying for a track and field at the high school in next year’s school budget (2009-2010). They feel that 30 percent state aid will be available for this. They are also planning to have the actual construction of a track and field put into the CIP plan, anticipating that the project will be put forth to voters in a couple of years, once all four grades at the high school are in attendance. Currently, the actual construction of a track and field would cost about $2.5 million.

Raycraft said, “An additional field inside of the track will help to alleviate overuse of existing fields and allow for all teams to practice. Synthetic turn will allow the field to be used for both practice and games, making one or more of the existing fields into an additional practice or game field for other sports.”

His other recommendation was to make the addition of a mini-gym part of the master plan and said this would help alleviate the lack of indoor practice facilities.

August 7, 2008
Eagle Tribune

WINDHAM — Voters may be asked in March to approve a $2.5 million track and athletics field along with a second gym for the new high school.

The School Board took the first step last night in bringing the proposal before voters by including the facilities in its capital improvement request.

All four board members at the meeting agreed to make the athletic facilities one of their top priorities.

Vice Chairman Bruce Anderson said the board based its decision on the recommendation of the school’s new athletic director, Bill Raycraft.

After a review of the facilities, which include five ball fields and a gym, Raycraft recommended the track and an artificial turf field inside it, plus a second gym in the school.

Without the additional field, the five playing fields would be overused and require replacement of sod, he said. In addition, the track teams need a track for practices and meets, Raycraft said, and a second gym would provide an additional place for teams to practice.

The facilities agreed to last night are a scaled-down version of what was presented to voters earlier this year, board member Beverly Donovan said.

Voters defeated a warrant article asking for $5.5 million in athletic facilities, including the second gym, along with three additional athletics fields and a multipurpose sports center featuring bleacher seating.

School officials need to come up with more precise cost estimates for the athletic facilities before presenting them to the Capital Improvements Committee, board Chairman Barbara Coish said.

The estimate for the field and track is $2.5 million. The cost of the second gym, estimated at $900,000 last year, needs to be updated.

The committee will consider the board’s request when it meets in September to recommend a capital improvements plan for the town and school district, School Board member Michael Hatem said.

The athletic facilities could be financed through revenue in the capital improvements plan without raising taxes, Hatem said.

August 1, 2008
Pelham-Windham News

Windham High School athletic committee member Chris O’Neal has asked school board members to revisit the athletic master plan approved by former board members last year. O’Neal is asking that segments of this “vision” for the school be added to the Capital Improvement Program (CIP), to better assure that these projects become reality.

A warrant article pertaining to a portion of the athletic master plan did not pass voter scrutiny in March. The deadline for submitting projects to the CIP for consideration this year is Friday, August 8. The athletic master plan includes proposals for a multipurpose athletic complex (stadium), including a track, adjacent to the school; a second gymnasium and several athletic fields to enhance those already being built.

In response to O’Neal, school board member Mark Brockmeier said it would be premature to add any athletic facilities to the CIP agenda this year. The high school is scheduled to open in September of 2009, with only freshman and sophomore classes. Brockmeier suggested that school officials hold a series of workshops during the next year and have a CIP proposal “that everyone can rally around” ready for presentation in August of 2009.

School board member Beverly Donovan pointed out that there are other facility needs in the Windham School District that need to go into the CIP, such as renovations to Golden Brook Elementary School, as well as a state-mandated kindergarten program and upgrading the food service at the three existing schools. “Each school will have its own priority list,” Donovan said. “It’s the board’s job to boil that down and make recommendations” for the CIP.

O’Neal said he feels as if athletic facilities in the school district are “always getting put off until next year, next year and next year. It never gets done,” he said.

Brockmeier said the discussion needs to include facility needs from any educational standpoint, as well as an economic point of view. It is anticipated this topic will be discussed regularly during upcoming school board meetings.

Windham High School Deans Spending Summer Making Plans

It’s still a little more than a year until Windham High School will open its doors to students, but the administrators who will be working there are working to complete curriculum, athletic and co-curricular programs. The “planning team” has been given space in the SAU 28 building to hold its meetings.

Principal Richard Manley met with school board members to update them on issues being discussed by the team during July and August. The new school is scheduled to be up and running by September of 2009. During the first year of operation, only freshmen and sophomores will attend the school. Juniors and seniors will continue attending Salem High School on an extended tuition contract.
Manley told school officials the planning team got together for its initial session on July 14 with a tour of the school site on London Bridge Road, off Route 111. According to project owners’ representative Glenn Davis, the new structure is about two-thirds complete, slightly ahead of schedule.

One of the first tasks being tackled by the new administrators is the mission statement. “This will drive all else that lies ahead,” Manley said. Although partially completed, the statement of purpose needs further refinement and development, Manley said.

The high school advisory program is another issue being discussed by administrators. “We need to develop clear goals” for this program, Manley told school board members. The program will include developing learning plans for each student.

An “ambassador program,” linking Salem High students who live in Windham with those attending the new high school, also is a topic of conversation. Manley said it is important to have older students serving as mentors for the freshmen and sophomores who will attend Windham High School. The lack of role models at the new high school was one of the concerns school board members had with only freshmen and sophomores attending the school when it opens.

The athletic program also is being talked about, including the kinds of junior varsity and varsity programs to be offered, as well as the rationale behind those programs. Athletic Director Bill Raycraft is helping develop the specifics of the new program and related facilities.

How best to integrate health, wellness and physical education programs with other subjects also is being discussed. Potential co-curricular offerings also are on the table.

Curriculum development and the sequencing of courses is a major topic for administrators. Our goal is to create “a program of studies” by summer’s end, Manley said.

The only high school dean position yet to be filled is the dean of special needs. The hiring of other staff for the school won’t begin until early next year, Manley said.