Editorial: District 518 on right track with facilities efforts

Talk about it

For the past several months, District 518 has been working to gain as much as public input as possible about solving an iminent severe facility shortage.

It’s clear that careful consideration is needed. For example, at a work session last week, Worthington High School Principal Paul Karelis noted that some current programs will eventually have to be removed within the next two years to make room for an expected increase in students. That’s clearly an undesirable scenario — shouldn’t student growth correlate into increased opportunities, or at the very least the status quo?

Seven options as to how the district should proceed are being weighed. It seems almost inevitable that any option ultimately chosen will involve construction of a new building. Also during last week’s work session, referring to the district’s facilities and grounds committee, superintendent John Landgaard said, “Our overall recommendation is to consider moving forward with a new high school.” Approval of a new building referendum, though, would almost definitely be a challenge, as school board members Joel Lorenz and Linden Olson noted.

The key for the district — as another school board member, Mark Shepherd, suggested — is to continue to educate the public on how a growing enrollment will affect the community’s schools, students and employees. We think it’s off to a good start.

Tags: district 518, opinion, education, worthington, whs