Commentary By Mark Keen
What’s ahead in 2013?
Looking forward to the next 12 months, Westfield Washington Schools is excited about accomplishing great things for our students and our community.
College and Career Readiness
Our College and Career Readiness initiatives are paying off. Westfield High School graduates are entering college and the workforce prepared to succeed. We want to continue increasing the number of college credits earned by our graduates while increasing the technical offerings for our students pursuing a technical career.
Our focus is expanding CCR in grades K-12, informing students and parents at all levels of the multitude of options available. In February, parents of students in grades K-6 will be invited to Planning, Preparing, Paying: College Readiness Advice for Parents.
State Waiver for Performance Qualified Schools
WWS is joining other high performing school districts to lobby the general assembly for a waiver from the Indiana Department of Education on mandated requirements. The waiver would be for performance qualified schools that would allow flexibility for each district to focus on what fits best rather than the one size fits all approach.
On-line Learning Options
The district is exploring more on-line options for students. Some courses lend themselves to on-line delivery and our students are geared to learn this way. Options include courses where students can be in class on some days and on-line on others. More on-line delivery could reduce the need for future construction and also reduce operational costs.
Community Stadium
WHS has launched a capital campaign, Build the Rock, with the goal of raising funds to build a community stadium.
The new field would not just be used for school games; it would be a community field and enhance community development.
The capital campaign is a fiscally responsible approach to addressing current safety, supervision and capacity concerns without raising the tax rate while being proactive since the current stadium sits on a prime piece of real estate.
Funds for completing the stadium would not come from increasing or maintaining the local tax rate. Funds on hand would take care of the initial work and a combination of fundraising and the sale of ground would complete the work along with providing a major step to significantly reduce our tax rate.
Mark Keen is the superintendent of Westfield Washington Schools. Keen also shares his thoughts on his superintendent’s blog, http://blogs.wws.k12.in.us/keenm/. He can be reached at [email protected].