Building Our Future
It is an exciting time for our district! We are considering the next steps to give our kids access to the best facilities possible.
In 2018, our district adopted a board approved Facility Master Plan (FMP 1.0). That plan was the result of almost two years of work from a Facility Master Plan Task Force. The concentration of the initial work is on elementary school buildings—moving our district from a landscape of 21 elementary schools to 13 schools over a 20+ year time period funded through our SAVE budget. The goal is not only to provide upgraded, best practice facilities, it is also to integrate collaborative practices between educators and our community. West Willow Elementary opened this fall and Maple Grove is scheduled to open next fall. Truman will be repurposed next fall as well. The facilities are accessible, integrate designs that encourage collaboration and flexibility, and are modernized with sustainability in mind. West Willow is absolutely beautiful. Stay tuned for an upcoming Open House!
We are now ready to assess the next steps on our plan. Our board of directors had the vision in 2018 to recommend a “pause” on our FMP to reflect on the first projects; assess our enrollment, population, and conditions of our buildings; and consider the overall needs of our district, including secondary buildings. This is the year of the “pause,” hence the recent invitation to our community members to participate on the FMP Task Force. Thank you to all of those volunteers! We will start meeting this month and through the winter. This team will not only help determine the next steps on our elementary school scope of work (FMP 1.0), they will also review the data and make recommendations for our secondary school needs—including athletic and activity facilities (FMP 2.0). Because FMP 1.0 is using SAVE dollars as a funding stream, FMP 2.0 recommendations will need a clear scope of a budget and funding through a potential future bond issue.
As the task force assesses the data, we will bring information to our school board members and the community. Please be on the lookout for community town hall meetings and focus groups in January-February. We value and need your input!
Our kids deserve access to the absolute best and need our vision to rethink and reimagine how we maximize our strong history while creating new opportunities for them. Our community is innovative and knows how to honor our history while making advances to the future. Again, this is an exciting time for our school district!
Noreen Bush
Superintendent
