Dear Editor:
A new Master Plan for Shepherd School District 37: After several years of building facility assessments, community meetings, and space programming, the Shepherd School District has settled on a course of action, and plans to run a mail-in ballot, for bond election, this coming fall.
The process began in August of 2008, with a Building Assessment report, performed by MGT of Washington state. The information gathered in this report outlined each of the district facilities, and listed ADA concerns, structural stability, energy efficiency, and useful life of the building systems.
Between August 2008 and March 2012, the Board of Trustees reviewed the data, and began the process of collecting information, comments, and suggestions from staff, students, and community members. In March 2012, District Superintendent Dan Jamieson requested in his Superintendent Message of the Shepherd School Newsletter, for individuals interested in participating on a facility committee, to contact the school; this culminated in the informal formation of a group of staff, students, and community members to form the Facility Building Committee, to further address the needs and future of the Shepherd School District educational buildings.
From March of 2012 through December of 2014, this Facility Building Committee, in conjunction with Spectrum Group Architects, participated in on-site space programming and design workshops involving the staff, students, and community groups.
The Master Plan that developed from these workshops was on display in each school lobby, with additional exposure during several basketball games, School Carnivals, and Community Showcase events.
In December 2014, with the goal of fiscal responsibility to the community in mind, the Board of Trustees, working with the Facility Building Committee, painstakingly reduced the scope of the Master Plan, to address those areas of highest priority; issues and concerns that affected:
*Life Safety
*Health and General Welfare
*General Safety
This Revised Master Plan for the Shepherd School District will be presented to the public over the next few months, for the community to review, and vote on this November.
Additional information, including the Revised Plan, Shepherd School Newsletters, and Board of Trustees meeting minutes can be found on the school website, www.shepherd.k12.mt.us. Updated tax impact information will be available from DA Davidson at the end of July; this information will also be available on the school district website and the shepherd community website.
Jenny Aigner
Shepherd
