by SARAH THOMACK/St. Joseph Post Staff
After a recent meeting of the St. Joseph School Board, plans for school district high schools have been narrowed down to two options.
St. Joseph School Board President Seth Wright says those options are a two-high school model or a one-high school model as remodeling all the current high schools is not the best investment of taxpayer money moving forward.
“If you look at the data, overall, the community has said, we want to be forward-thinking, our current facilities don’t meet the learning needs of our students and that they would like to see the possibility of new construction," Wright says. "Based upon that data, it’s hard for the board to say investing in our current facilities is a good long term plan.”
Wright says narrowing down options for the district's high school facilities is an emotionally-charged issue and process.
“These are difficult conversations, the end result will be even more difficult, whatever decision we have to make, but at the end of the day, we understand the gravity of this decision, not just for the school district, but for the community," Wright says. "We want to make sure we’re making the right decision, so we want to take our time, gather all of the feedback."
Wright says as they take the next steps toward making a decision, they are continuing to look into what the vision of the community is.
School District Superintendent Doug Van Zyl says there are more conversations to come include answering some questions raised through the community engagement process.
For more information about the recent meeting, click here and visit sjsdfacilities.org for more on the facilities plan.