By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
Unanimous approval by the St. Joseph School Board on a long-range plan will have the school district exploring building two new high schools in the city.
Superintendent Gabe Edgar says the plan has been discussed since he took over the position in 2022 and was built heavily around the Vision Forward campaign.
"It was an 18-month process where there were community members involved, there were students involved, there were teachers involved, there were parents involved, there were administrators involved, a lot of different folks were involved in that plan,” Edgar tells KFEQ Hotline host Barry Birr. “So, if they chose not to be a part of that, that’s their deal, so that’s kind of where we’re at with it, but just understand that not all the details are there.”
Edgar says there are still a lot of questions that need to be answered, and discussion will continue and will be a topic of discussion during a Sept. 9th work session.
The objective of the plan is to build two new high schools, one on the north side and one on the south side, and hopes to align boundaries, right size elementary schools, and reconfigure the middle school model.
Edgar says overall though the plan isn't just about buildings, it's about academics.
"So, this is not about facilities to me, it’s about offering a better education to kids, it’s about equity, it’s about opportunities, it’s about the proper offerings, that’s what it’s about to me,” Edgar says.
Edgar says the district can't stray away from this long-range plan
"We have to stick to the plan, we have to take this plan to the community, if it fails you go back and fix the plan,” Edgar explains. “I think the last time around, to be honest with you in my opinion, I don’t think American Family was a bad idea, but it was off the plan and guess what, the plan blew up.”
Edgar says it fell apart because it was not part of the original plan, but his message to the community about this new plan.
"Is that there is a lot of detail that has to be added to this plan, but Pre-K through 12, the plan is set,” Edgar says.
Edgar says as long as he is around this is the plan that will be put forward to the community.