Resource Center

In this first video, Dr. Lech provides some historical context of enrollment at the elementary level and how that has changed the needs at JPS even in just the last 15 years, cost to continue to operate Washington Elementary with the current enrollment, as well as the district’s continued desire to be stewards of tax dollars.

In this video, Nancy Anderson, current teacher at Washington, discusses that declining enrollment and facility needs were challenges driving the decision. She also shared her perspective as a teacher at Washington and that even though there are challenges from the decision, good will come from this change.

In this video, Jeff Meissner, current building principal at Washington, discusses how declining enrollment is impacting the elementary classroom sizes at Washington and how this shift will enhance efficiency.
 

In this video, Adam Gehlhar, Continuous Improvement Director at JPS, celebrates the outstanding support provided for our community, the desire to address educational spaces that mirror the needs of our students and teachers, and the “beacon” that these investments make to families considering Jamestown.
 

Why is now the right time to make these facility decisions?
In this video, Dr. Rob Lech, Superintendent at JPS, discusses that despite a strong and regular commitment to our facilities, an aging infrastructure at the elementary level means high costs just to maintain. As Dr. Lech shares, at some point, it no longer makes fiscal sense to put new money into aging facilities.

 Take a few minutes and listen to Adam Gehlhar, JPS Continuous Improvement Director, discuss facility needs (accessibility, building upgrade, and safety and security) and, most importantly, the necessity of addressing educational adequacy.

What options have been identified for potential next steps?
In this video, Nancy Anderson, Teacher at JPS, shares her perspective on serving on a community group, the Enrollment and Facilities Task Force. This team began work two years ago to study trends and make recommendations to the Jamestown School Board. They began the process that ulimtately led to the current options that will be shared later this week.

This task force was a great example of the collaboration necessary to make sure JPS is offering the community the right plan at the right time.

What options have been identified for potential next steps?
The last video featured Nancy Anderson who discussed her involvement in the Enrollment and Facilities Task Force over 2 years ago. In today’s video, Dr. Rob Lech, Superintendent at JPS, shares the options that have been developed through collaborative discussions with stakeholders like Nancy. Dr. Lech shares how far we have come, from the 18 options identified by the Task Force, down to the two options shared in the video. Both of these options include retiring additional facilities and new construction on the current Washington campus.

Just as important is Dr. Lech’s reference to an upcoming survey. Our board needs your feedback to help make the best possible decision for the future of JPS. Please consider completing that survey when it comes out next month.

In this video, Jeff Meissner, Principal at Washington, shares the two options that have been identified for new construction. These options will be a primary focus of the survey sent out to the community in May.

With the completion of our video series on the 3 key questions, we hope this has been helpful in building a shared community understanding around the facility needs of JPS.

The week May 5th - 9th, you will be receiving an important community survey. It will only take a few minutes to complete, but the results will be crucial towards determining next steps. Please make it a priority to complete.