Dear North Penn Staff, Families and Community Members,
At last night’s school board meeting, the Board of School Directors made a monumental decision to hold a special election referendum to finance the creation of space and renovation for ninth graders at North Penn High School. This vote will take place on Tuesday, January 16, 2024 at your typical polling location.
The question on the ballot will read:
“Shall debt in the sum of $97,318,376 for the purpose of financing new construction that includes space for ninth grade students to be educated on campus and renovations of NPHS be authorized to be incurred as debt approved by the voters?”
If the majority of voters on January 16th vote yes, the six-plus year project would resolve all infrastructure needs and accessibility limitations of the aging building, add additional space to bring ninth grade students to the campus, re-imagine the current 10-12 grade structure to meet the needs of modern teaching and learning practices, and include common areas for collaboration. Academic programming and course offerings are vastly different in 2023 than they were in 1971 (when the building was constructed) and will continue to evolve over the next few decades. Engineering, robotics, hydroponics, spatial computing, and media production are a few examples that exist now that did not exist fifty years ago! It will also modernize our spaces for performing arts, post secondary transitional programming, and include substantial changes to the campus such as moving the transportation center, which will decrease traffic and make room for parking, activities, and athletics.
If the referendum does not pass, ninth graders will remain in our three middle schools and renovations to NPHS must still occur to address the failing infrastructure. The work that must be completed would address HVAC, electrical, plumbing and lighting needs, but would not substantially change the building from what it looked like since opening in 1971. This would also not include changes to the campus itself. Either way, the plan is to move the transportation center to a new location.
You can find further details at reimaginenphs.org, and between now and January 16th, much more information will continue to be provided. You can look forward to learning more about costs, the impact on student learning, construction phasing, and more.
As superintendent, I cannot stress how important it is for this community to understand the issues at hand and the decision that is upon us. The votes cast on January 16th will shape this school district for decades to come.
Sincerely,
Todd M. Bauer
Superintendent