In addition to the “real jobs” I have had over time, I have had the pleasure of serving as an adjunct professor at several colleges. I have had a great time teaching a variety of classes to future administrators, and occasionally I teach classes in school facilities management. During the first class, I tell the students two things about facilities:
1. Flat roofs leak.
2. Facilities matter.
When arriving in Mount Vernon five years ago, one of the first things I was asked to do was to develop a twenty year facilities vision for the district. I spent a lot of time touring all the buildings and grounds and asked myself one simple question: “What is best for kids?” The vision I shared with the School Board in 2017 was the foundation for what became the successful 2018 bond issue. The vision also included partnering with the City of Mount Vernon in ensuring the Lester Buresh Family Community Wellness Center was built on campus. The ultimate goal is to ensure that our facilities are commensurate with the quality of our students and programs, with the Performing Arts Center being a great example of a facility that matches the quality of the programs. We are now actively working to bring to the district and community a new activities complex, something I feel will be a game changer for the district and community for the next fifty years.
There are two pieces of the facility’s vision that are critical for our future, and they link together in a way to augment the educational experience for our kids. As the community continues to grow, the district will eventually need a fourth instructional building to serve students. This likely will be a grades 4-5 building, and putting this building in close proximity to the elementary and middle school will be important as regards to sharing resources and staff. This logically puts the building where the current track and field is just south of Washington Elementary. This places an importance on building a new activities complex that will provide learning and performance space for physical education, marching band, track, soccer, and football. It also gives our kids a “home” for events, and unites all our facilities on one campus. Adding these facilities over the next decade will make the Mount Vernon Community School District campus the hub for activity in the community.
By the time you are reading this, I hope we were able to secure final approval from the Mount Vernon CIty Council for the activities complex project on April 18, and will now hold a public hearing on the project on May 9. At that time; you will have the opportunity to learn about the project, ask questions, and share your concerns. You will also learn at this time that due to the generosity of community members, both Mount Vernon alumni and friends, we have raised more than $2 million dollars for this project. Without these donors who invested in what was at one point a dream, we would not be this close to making the activities complex a reality. We appreciate their support and look forward to sharing more broadly how everyone can become involved in the fundraising efforts related to this project. You will also learn more in the near future about how you can become involved in fundraising efforts related to the activities complex. We will speak with any of you at any time and any place to discuss this project with you. Thank you for all you do for Mount Vernon, and please join us on May 9 to learn more. As always, Go Mustangs!