Birnie said the industrial technology area discovered a problem with classroom space. This year, the school added three new teachers in the area, with two of the teachers sharing a classroom.

When the weather is nice, he takes the junior and senior construction students outdoors to work on projects, such as a building at the Hastings Middle School near the community garden.

But when it’s windy or cold outside, Birnie ends up sharing a classroom with another teacher. Though classes are capped at 18 students each, he said, there are 114 students using a shared classroom over four periods that should have no more than 72 students.

“I came to Jeff (Schneider, superintendent) about creating a classroom,” Birnie said. “My proposal is that we can build a house.”

During warmer weather months, students would work on creating a house frame. Once the frame is complete, students could work in the building when it’s colder outside.

And there is precedent for the idea. Schools in Kearney and Grand Island also build houses. Construction students at Central Community College-Hastings build houses, and Birnie said he plans on working with instructors there to develop the program at HHS.

He plans to take the next year to work out the details of the project, but would like to find property on which to build a house for the 2024-25 school year.

“It will cost money, but it’s recoverable money,” he said.

The first student-built house would be sold, and the proceeds of the sale would be used to fund materials for a second home, and so on, to keep the program going. The concept is modeled from Habitat for Humanity.

Some work will have to be subcontracted out, such as the basement and foundation, plumbing, electrical and most drywall, but students will be involved in other aspects of construction.

There may be some lag time between the construction of a house and its purchase, but Birnie believes that will be minimal.

“I think there’s a huge demand that will help get these sold when we get to that,” he said.

After talking with Michael Krings, executive director of the Hastings Economic Development Corp., Birnie said the community of Hastings needs to add 1,100 homes by 2026 to meet the increasing housing demand.

The school would plan to produce homes that would cost $150,000 to $225,000, a price range that is lacking in the community. When Birnie checked in January, he said there were only 19 homes available in Hastings priced less than $250,000.

And if the house doesn’t sell right away, he said, the school district could use the home as a rental to entice teachers to join HPS.

Schneider said he believes the idea is financially sound for the district. The goal would be to make a little money off each sale in order to continue the program as a classroom experience each year.

“It’s not going to be a money maker, but we’re probably not going to lose money,” he said. “I’m confident if we can build simple homes, we can get our money back.”

The board’s regular meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday.

In other business, the board is scheduled to:

• Conduct a student fee policy hearing and approve student fees for 2023-24
• Consider a foreign travel request for a 2024 France trip
• Consider approval of a tentative graduation list
• Consider a custodial supply bid Consider the purchase of security cameras for the high school
• Consider the purchase of an intercom system at the high school
• Consider bids for window purchases
• Consider the addition of a full-time position being added for an athletic trainer
• Consider a wage increase for classified staff for 2023-24