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Renderings and current views of the expanded large group construction area within North Penn High School shown during a community forum on planned renovations on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023. (Screenshot of NPTV video)
Dear North Penn community residents: Next Tuesday presents us with a rare opportunity: an opportunity to invest in rebuilding the educational future for the children of our community. As a parent of three children (4th, 9th, and 3rd grade) who live in the district, I am excited about the possibility of transforming our high school into a modern facility and promoting beneficial educational opportunities. We will continue to protect our region for decades to come. There are many reasons to vote “yes” on Tuesday, January 16th’s referendum to approve a $97 million bond issue to fund renovations to North Penn High School, but I will focus on just a few.
North Penn consistently receives the Best Community Award for Music Education from the NAMM Foundation. This is despite the fact that many high school bands, including marching knights, symphonic bands, and concert bands, do not or barely fit in high school band rooms. Also, for groups that can barely fit into the room, the room is very small and the ceiling is low, so the decibel level of the performance is often higher than the recommended decibel level for students’ ears. The full chorus is four times the size of the chorus room. These groups often rehearse in other locations that can accommodate their size but are not ideal for acoustic reasons. Additionally, because high schools do not have facilities large enough to accommodate all the demands of sports teams and bands, indoor visual ensembles often rehearse in the Pendale Middle School or Winter Percussion cafeteria. North Penn deserves credit for its accomplishments in the face of inadequate facilities, but it shouldn’t be this way. Our performance groups need to have suitable spaces available and this renovation provides the opportunity to create them.
This is also the time when students in grades 9-12 enter high school. Our 9th graders endure a lot of shuttling between middle school and high school, which is an inefficient use of our tax dollars. For example, many of her 9th graders move on the summer before entering 9th grade. Therefore, students would start their morning at the high school and take the bus to the middle school after the second or fourth period. Students using the technical college’s services will also experience the bus during their classes. This distance and bus travel makes her school day very long for her students. If you are also participating in a sports or band program, you will be bused back to your high school after your middle school activities. While this will certainly increase the size of the high school, it is the best outcome for the students. This would give school districts more flexibility in addressing the myriad of issues in middle schools.
Even if the vote is “no,” the high school will undergo some very major renovations over the next few years. But many may not know that as part of the renovation, more than $15 million will be spent on modular classrooms at the high school for the duration of the project. This corresponds to almost 7% of the total operating budget for temporary facilities. Instead of holding bicycle classes in the newly constructed part of the high school while the old part is renovated, classes will be held on bicycles in modular classrooms while that construction takes place. This will create a very poor educational experience for thousands of students during renovations. And given North Penn’s history with modular classrooms, it will probably last much longer than intended and become an eyesore. We can and should do better.
At the end of the day, this comes down to investing in our community. This decision will set the stage for school facilities for the next 20 years. You need to do better than put lipstick on a pig with basic renovations. We need to create facilities where students can achieve their potential. As I mentioned earlier, I have three children in the ward. I support this initiative, even though it primarily benefits only my youngest son. The youngest child will attend a completely renovated high school between grades 10 and 12. Although it is a sacrifice from a tax perspective, it is a necessary investment in the educational opportunities of our children. Please join me in voting YES to provide a better educational experience for students in our district.
John T. Ashley
Towamencin
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