By MATT PIKE
As the St. Joseph School District completes one vision, reorganizing to two high schools and reshaping the school district, the St. Joseph School Board of Education knows it's time to begin planning again for the future.
Board Vice President Jacob McMillan says he knows as they begin to discuss the next steps of the vision, there might be some fatigue with the board and the community when it comes to facilities.
"I understand that it is emotional and it is tiresome, but every organization to where are we going," McMillan says on the KFEQmunnity show.
During a special meeting at the end of last month, the board voted to bring in the DLR Group out of Kansas City to help see where the district is at with its facilities
"So the goal of DLR is not to come in and thus say it DLR, what they're coming in to say is here's where you're at with your facilities, here are the different options you have, and what do you think is best for this community? Here's what you could do," McMillan explains. "And in that process, we want to make sure the community is involved."
McMillan says part of the agreement with DLR will prompt community engagement sessions next fall.
"I'd really encourage our community to prioritize that next fall, because we want to get every stakeholder, every admin, the board, everyone at the table, and say where do we want to go three, five, and ten years from now?" McMillan says. "Because the board has to make decisions not just based on one month from now, we also have to make them based on three, five, and ten years from now, so that's where we're going as a board is we need to get that facilities plan for the next three, five, and ten years put together."
McMillan says having this facility plan in place does not mean there will not be modifications or adjustments in the future, but there has to be a futuristic plan in place for staff to be able to look at facilities now to begin to make a plan.
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