Last week, Westmoreland County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Michael Perry relayed goals that he’s looking to accomplish to the school board. However, instead of 10 goals, like usual, Dr. Perry laid out 13 this year. The first of these will involve making a presentation of a capital improvement plan to the Board of Supervisors.
Requesting more money
“We’re going to request additional funding for the first time in at least seven years,” Dr. Perry stated. “It could be the resource officers we were talking about. We haven’t asked yet, and in my view, we don’t have it because we haven’t asked yet.”
A part of this funding would also go towards getting additional custodial staff and a groundskeeper for Washington & Lee High School as there are still plans for its use, but people are starting to treat its grounds like a garbage dump.
“The groundskeeper came to me and told me that we needed to stop people from using the fields because they’re just littering and messing everything up,” the Superintendent continued. “When it came to budgeting and planning, we didn’t think people would act like that.”
Several other projects were touched upon, from implementing capstone projects across all the grades to completing the division and school improvement plans before Labor Day, something that has to happen now by law.
Accident prevention
Avoiding accidents was another big goal. Dr. Perry indicated that even one mishap could sour everyone’s year.
Accreditation, after-school, & websites
Maintaining accreditation was another large goal, as well as increasing after-school opportunities for students from kindergarten through 8th grade and improving the division’s website.
The capstone projects go hand-in-hand with project-based learning (PBL), which has been all the rage lately, particularly in Westmoreland County. Capstone projects are widely seen as the next step in the implementation of PBL and should also go a long way to preparing kids for things such as Governor’s School.
Athletics
In addition to finishing the outdoor athletics fields, something for which the foundation is thankfully in place, securing an athletic memorial space for Coach Jones was also on the list.
Dr. Perry stated, “As we complete the athletic fields, I think we can begin to look more concretely at how we can memorialize a giant of a man.”
State recognition
Dr. Perry is also looking to get recognition from the state for the construction of the new high school.
“As for what that means,” Dr. Perry explained. “I was talking to some elected individuals from across the state, and I was very surprised to be told that people like our governor and other state officials really want to come and be a part of these celebrations. So we’re going to see if we can get him down to Westmoreland County.”
Planning for Cople facility
Another project that Dr. Perry is hoping to see completed is the plans for the Cople Elementary Multi-Purpose Facility, a gymnasium project.
Hosting events
“We want to host a State of the State of Education in Westmoreland County Public Schools this year,” Dr. Perry concluded. “And to host the retirement banquet for the retiring school employees. We’ve talked about both of those, and I’m hoping we can do those this year.”
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