By Mike McDonough
Hilliard Schools is dedicated to proactively planning for the future of the district, both in preparing its students to be Ready For Tomorrow and making wise financial decisions that make the best use of our taxpayer dollars.
Conducting enrollment studies, including a student potential analysis for new development, is one piece of this puzzle. Our latest enrollment report projects that enrollment will remain flat or even decline slightly over the next 10 years. Even with all the new housing construction throughout the district, our enrollment experts tell us that it will take years for those communities to fully develop.
Our Master Facility Plan is another piece of the puzzle. Phase one of our plan involved expanding all-day kindergarten to every elementary school in the district. We were also able to expand our preschool. The $3.8-million expansion added eight new classrooms to the existing building and replaced the current playground.
We recently launched phase two of our plan, which includes an Educational Adequacy Assessment. This analysis will complement the facility condition and enrollment data information that we monitor on an annual basis and will inform us on how well our buildings fit the educational delivery model today and what we want to deliver in the future. A Steering Committee, made up of experts, staff, community members, and students will reconvene in September to review the results, then hold several work sessions and a community engagement survey that will ultimately lead to a road map in addressing the needs of our facilities well into the future.
Our schools are a reflection of our community, and as such, your feedback and ideas are crucial to the future success of our district. Stay tuned for ways you can get involved.
