Your Feedback is Important
As the District looks to the future and continues to address the much needed space issue at the High School, it is vital that we work in cooperation with our community.
Over the past 18 months, the District has undergone a complete enrollment and facilities assessment and evaluated the needs of both current and future students given our curriculum, goals, and expectations of students as they go on to post-secondary education. Teachers and administrators have visited several area high schools that have undergone recent renovations to determine best practices and to help us think beyond our own current environment.
The primary goals of this project are:
Address the Current Space Needs
Classroom availability is currently limited; large group instruction areas (theater, gymnasium, library, etc.) are too small to meet the needs of the growing High School enrollment and are in need of modernization; areas not addressed in the last renovation of the building need to be improved or completed.
Create a Safe and Secure Learning Environment
Main entrances need to be designed to provide easy access to the main office, counseling office, and other highly traveled areas, while keeping the classroom area secure; large event spaces, such as the theater, need to be shifted out of the center of the building so that the main portion of the facility can be secured during large events; egress and traffic flow in the High School Stadium needs to be addressed.
Align our Instructional Space with our Teaching Goals
Design facilities that support our 21st Century teaching and learning environment and expectations; create an environment that better prepares students for collegiate and 21st Century real world environments.
Due to limitations imposed by recent legislation on the amount of a tax increase that can be levied each year by a School District, the School Board may be placing a referendum on the upcoming election ballot asking the community of Peters Township to support the expansion and renovation of the High School and a millage increase of a maximum of 9 mills over a 2-3 year period that would support the $53 million project. Without this additional funding, the District cannot improve the facility in the coming years. An increase of 9 mills would equate to approximately $315 annually to a homeowner currently paying $2,500 per year in taxes, and $441 to a homeowner currently paying $3,500 per year.
As planning begins, it is vital that the District has the feedback of the community. Without support for the referendum, planning will not begin on the High School expansion/renovation project. Please provide your answers in the attached survey. Click here to complete the survey (deadline is October 31, 2011.)