The school district is at a crossroads.
And the Unit Five school board is asking for your advice as it approaches an important decision.
The elementary (K-8) school buildings, built between 1939 and 1954, are deteriorating, despite the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent to maintain and improve them over the years.
And that means that the learning environment of our children and grandchildren isn’t what it used to be, or what we’d like for it to be.
The school district has spent more than $700,000 on repairs to the buildings in the last five years alone. But it’s clear that routine repairs aren’t enough to solve the problem.
The school board, in consultation with architects, has identified three options for dealing with the situation, with the estimated cost of addressing the problems ranging from about $10.7 million to roughly $32.1 million.
But before it makes a decision, it wants you, the members of the public, to visit Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln schools, tour the buildings and speak with teachers and administrators about the environment in which children are now being taught.
Open houses are scheduled for these times, dates and locations:
- 5-8 p.m. Nov. 4, Washington Attendance Center
- 5-8 p.m. Nov. 7, Jefferson Attendance Center
- 9 a.m. to noon Nov. 9, Lincoln Attendance Center
You are not just invited, but urged, to attend one or more of these events and learn about the challenges facing teachers, students and those whom you’ve entrusted to plan the future of the Carmi-White County Unit #5 school district.
