Superintendent of
Perry Township Schools
The Perry Township community deeply cares about its children and schools. The past nine months have been featured more than 60 meetings, hundreds of phone calls, emails and one-on-one conversations about a plan to address the capacity needs of the district.
Your school board has been monitoring enrollment statistics closely and felt it was time to bring the issue to the community for a decision. A referendum is the only method available to school corporations to raise the funds needed for facility improvements.
On May 5 our community made a carefully thought-out decision at the polls to support building additional classrooms to accommodate our increased student enrollment. This was a difficult decision for many of our community members, especially those on fixed incomes.
We realize this is a financial commitment to our schools and a sacrifice for our homeowners and business owners. When you voted yes for this referendum, you placed your trust in us. You have faith that we will be prudent stewards with the funds allocated to us to address the classroom space needs and the safety/security necessities of our students and staff.
As with the past referendum, we will keep you updated with the plans and progress of the projects with full disclosure and transparency.
Below is a brief summary of the projected time line:
• Design work on the four kindergarten centers will begin this month. Kindergarten staff, under the leadership of Vickie Carpenter, are visiting similar settings to gain an understanding of what kind of space our pupils will need. Bids will be accepted in January, with construction beginning in the spring of 2016 at Jeremiah Gray, Homecroft, Douglas MacArthur and Rosa Parks elementary schools.
The centers will welcome children at the start of 2017-18 school year. In addition, 29 classrooms will be constructed to meet our needs at our elementary schools. All trailers will be removed from the sites beginning with the 2017-18 school year.
• The open-concept school, Winchester Village Elementary, will become a facility with walls that protect and doors that lock. Construction and renovations will begin in August.
• Classrooms will be built at Southport Middle to replace the trailers being used for band and orchestra.
• Additional custodial staff and bus drivers will be employed as needed to transport our growing enrollment.
When was the last time you were in an elementary classroom? Back in the 1970s the second-graders in my classroom were much different than second-graders of today. I would be delighted to take you to a school for a visit. You have an open invitation to contact my office and set an appointment. We are proud of our staff and enjoy sharing the great work that our teachers conduct every day.
Thank you again for placing your trust in Perry Township Schools. We are blessed to serve in a community that supports their schools. We are committed to maintaining that trust.