School District Offers Glimpse Inside New Middle School

The has released photos of its new middle school, which is now undergoing an extensive  

The district will open the building to students at the beginning of the 2012-2013 academic year. Faculty and staff are slated to begin moving classroom materials into the building . The facility, which was constructed in 1967, formerly served as the district's high school. 

Middle school principal Melissa Heasley Monday night presented school board members with a scheduling plan for the building, which will house fifth through eighth grades. 

Fifth-graders are now housed in the district's elementary buildings. The district will host a public meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday night to introduce new curriculum plans to the public. 

District administrators confirmed that five to six teachers will need to be added to district staff to accommodate expanded course offerings for eighth-graders. 

School board members Monday requested information on the potential cost of keeping fifth-graders in the middle school, though they said no plan is underway to stop the move. 

Board members Ron Steele and Laura Schisler said they requested the information so that they could respond to parents in the community who are opposed to the fifth-grade move. 

"I'd like that information so that I can look a parent in the face when they say 'Why are you going through with this?'" Schisler said. "So I can say because I'm not willing to loose X amount of dollars." 

Milanovich said the amount of money lost in a move to keep fifth-graders in the middle school would be "in the millions." 

Check back with Patch for coverage of next Wednesday's curriculum meeting.