The room at the Perry Township Academic Center is crowded with passionate people, many voicing their opinion on the new proposal. Each with only three minutes on the clock, many use this time to voice their agreement.
“I think (the renovations) gives kids more opportunities, and that’s what we really want to do is more engagement, more opportunities and that sort of thing,” Perry Township Superintendent Patrick Spray said.
As the proposal unravels, things are rolling differently at PTEC. The proposal involves new constructions and renovations for both SHS and Perry Meridian.
Over the years, many new students have arrived in the neighborhood of Perry Township, bringing many new students into SHS and especially Perry Meridian.
After looking at both schools’ recent demographic data, it is clear there’s been growth in the amount of students.
After predicting that this increase in student population will likely grow, there comes a need for a change to accommodate these students.
The SHS building has been standing strong since 1894, but results of the demographic study led PTEC to conduct a study on both high school facilities.
The study took a deeper look at what needed to be fixed or replaced to better meet the needs of high school students.
“These buildings haven’t been touched in quite some time, and our programming, including diploma requirements, have changed a lot,” Spray said. “We really wanted to do a little more focus on career and technical education.”
Through the renovation and remodeling areas throughout the school students can expect more opportunities for engagement and dedicated spaces for extracurricular activities.
“More classrooms space, some re-shuffling of some current space, and some renovations, some additional space for CTE programs and again, an activity center,” Perry Township Chief Financial Officer Kent Hatcher said.
One major possible change the school is planning is relocating the special needs classes downstairs for better accessibility and accommodation.
To Comprehensive Intervention Program teacher Heidi Roll these renovations need to include special bathrooms and showers and non-carpet floors.
“I think (the renovation) is a great idea for safety reasons and for support reasons, and for ease of movement between buses or parent vehicles into the classroom.” Roll said.
Other planned additions to SHS include auditorium renovations and new classrooms especially for those who didn’t have a classroom to begin with. But, the projects aren’t just about expansion, they also address repairs such as malfunctioning heaters and plumbing.
“What we had the architects do is they went through both high schools and they evaluated what needs replaced, like for example, heaters, air conditioners, that kind of stuff,” Spray said.
However, these renovations come with a hefty price tag.
“Right now, we’re planning on not exceeding 175 million in construction costs,” Hatcher said.
To fund the projects, the district plans to increase debt financing, which is taking out a loan and paying it back with an interest rate. This means taxpayers won’t face direct charges. Additionally, the district will use competitive bidding to reduce costs.
The bidding process involves advertising a project and reviewing offers from contractors based on compliance, completeness and price.
With such a large project at hand, the timeline for repayment spans 20 years.
Even with all the changes that may occur, the top priority of the Township continues to be striving for academic excellence.
“What was even proposed right now really touches the academics, including our career and technical education, special education programs.” Spray said.
