GHV Board considers repurposing building

(Above) Ventura school leaders are considering moving fifth and sixth graders from its Intermediate School into the Junior High building located across the street in Ventura, creating a grades 5-8 Middle School.  The Intermediate building would be used in other ways by the school district.

Community meeting set to discuss moving 5th/6th graders to Junior High building

GHV School leadership will hold a community meeting Wednesday, May 9, to discuss moving grades five and six from the Ventura Intermediate School into the Junior High School Building in Ventura, which currently holds grades seven and eight.

“We are finishing our third year as a merged school district, and over those three years we have heard nothing but positive comments about how the merger has been a beneficial move for students.  We are very proud of our successful merger, and we continue to explore ways to improve learning environments for students,” said Superintendent Tyler Williams.

The potential for moving the students to one building would also save the district money, he said.

The current Junior High building is large enough to house all grades five to eight and would create a five-eight Middle School, which is a very common config-

[wlm_nonmember]To read more of this article, please login or sign up for our E-Edition[/wlm_nonmember][wlm_ismember]

uration for middle level learners, according to Williams.

Consolidation of the students into one building would eliminate the need for fifth and sixth graders to walk or be bussed up the hill to the Junior High for classes such as art, PE, music and library which Williams says creates a tremendous amount of lost instructional time over the course of days, weeks, and months.

GHV staff shared between the two buildings also travel back and forth daily, reducing the time they are available to teach and reducing the number of staff in each building for supervision purposes.

Williams also noted one principal overseeing two buildings, as well as the current counselor and school nurse shared by both buildings also presents inefficiencies.

“Teachers and students having access to the library at will is an incredible bonus of being under one roof,” he added.  “Stu-

dents having access to a gym, art room, and music room are also bonuses.”

Financial savings, estimated to be as much as $180,000 annually, would result from fewer staff needed to operate under a grades five-eight setting in comparison to separate buildings. Staff reductions could come in the areas of teaching staff/paraprofessionals, kitchen staff, office staff, and possibly custodial staff, according to Williams.

The GHV Board of Education will host a community meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 9, in the high school auditorium to answer any questions district constituents have regarding the possible move. Those unable to attend the meeting are encouraged to reach out to any administrator or board member to share input.

There is also a link on the GHV website where questions about the subject may be asked. (Paste  http://bit.ly/2Hw6lPf into your browser).  There will be a 10-day window of time from April 21-30 to submit any questions regarding moving grades five and six into the current Junior High building at Ventura.

“I expect our constituents to have questions such as, ‘will renovations be required to the current Junior High building?  Is it a positive move to have younger students together with older Junior High students? And what would be done with the current Intermediate building?” stated Williams.

The Superintendent said any speculation that the Intermediate School building, once known as Ventura Elementary, would be sold is completely false.

“We would utilize this beautiful building in some educational capacity,” said Williams.   “We have several ideas as to how we could use the Intermediate building to provide quality educational services to students.  I want to squash any rumors that we are exploring selling the Intermediate building.  That is not a part of our plan at all.”

[/wlm_ismember]