Honestly, we need a new high school built. Badly. If we had a new high school built, then the trickle down to the lower grades would fix a lot of issues across the district. The middle school could move into the old high school. The current middle school could take over another elementary school. Then we could close the one that needs to be completely rebuilt.
The high school needs a new auditorium, more dedicated sport fields, a bigger shop area, a larger cafeteria, the technology department could be in the school building instead of modulars, and more updated classrooms for all subjects.
The middle school would then have a dedicated auditorium and cafeteria, as well as multiple gymnasiums for more middle school sport opportunities. They could also have dedicated wings to the various subjects instead of the bizarre setup they have now. They could also use the workshop areas for some more conventional skills. And they would have a baseball field as well as larger facilities for football and soccer.
Education has been underserved in our community for a long time. They had a population boom that taxes have not been able to keep up with for the last two decades. A new high school would alleviate a lot of the pressure that the entire system has been feeling.
The schools are used for so many community events that it would be a boon for all the taxpayers to have a modern facility available for rent. The current high school is constantly booked out nearly a year in advance. It makes it difficult for the high school programs to actually use their own facilities.
We also have a very large truancy rate and I think a lot of that has to do with the overcrowding. It is a lot to be in these schools and if we could slide everyone up into bigger facilities that we would be where we should be for a while. Everybody needs some elbow room. Including the adults. So many teachers have to share classrooms which means there is nowhere to be to have their down periods.
Our school district provides so many things for our students on the small budget that they work with year after year. I really wish our community would think a bit further ahead than replacing the old elementary schools once every decade. The middle school is one of the new buildings but it does not serve its community any more. Turning it into an elementary school would be great.
A newer high school facility means they can really show off what they are accomplishing with the kids. They have many programs that they partner with other schools to train kids for various trade and service industry jobs. It would be great to give those programs better facilities to cultivate them even further and perhaps open up some of these options to the middle school age students.
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