Over the years, our community has invested a lot of money building our schools so that our students will have quality learning facilities. It is our job to ensure that investment is protected and maintained for years to come. One of the ways we are doing that is with the Permanent Improvement Forecast.
The Permanent Improvement (PI) Fund is typically used for items or projects that are more long term in nature, expenses such as school buses, asphalt, technology, building upkeep, and maintenance/custodial equipment to name a few. Through the creation of the PI Forecast, we have a long term planning tool that ensure safe and well maintained facilities and equipment. The PI Forecast makes sure we get the most out of our PI tax dollars and helps the school district stay off the ballot for facilities funding as long as possible.
You’ll be happy to know that the most recent PI Forecast shows that we will not be on the ballot for facilities funding any time soon, and at the same time, the long term planning involved with the forecast has allowed us to accomplish some major projects that were long overdue. One example you are surely aware of if you have been to a football game this year is the ECHS/Stadium parking lot project. This project achieves multiple priorities for the district. The Early College High School is currently made up of freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. Next year there will be a senior class. That means more students driving to school and a greater demand for parking. The parking lot portion of this project will provide a safe parking lot for staff and students. The drainage basins being installed will redirect the flow of water that creates safety issues in the winter time and the pavement will provide a surface our maintenance crew will be able to plow and salt so that it is not as dangerous in the cold winter months. The parking lot will also provide additional, more organized parking for athletic events and community members arriving at our events can appreciate and be proud of the upgraded entrance.
A second priority of this project is the transportation fueling station. The transportation department has long wanted to remove the fueling station from the middle of the parking lot. With this project, the fueling station will be moved to the old tennis courts far away from student parking. The new tank will also allow the district to seek bids for fuel, potentially saving operating dollars.
Finally, a storage barn is being built as part of the project as well. The equipment you have seen parked on the tennis courts will now be able to be housed in an indoor facility. This will help the longevity of our equipment as well as getting rid of an eyesore that can’t be missed on the way to the high school.
With all of the pressures of the daily operations of a school district, it can be easy to lose the long term perspective that some of these facility projects require. Rest assured that we value the community’s investment and the long term preservation of our facilities. The Permanent Improvement Forecast is one way we ensure this always remains a top priority.