Life in “Middle America” can be characterized by many things, but one thing is for certain – the local high school is often the flagship of the community.

Melissa Sharp, JCHS Principal, echoed those sentiments.

“Our high school should be the flagship of our community, you know with the exception of Fort Riley and perhaps Walmart, the high school is probably the most visited place for people outside our community,” said Sharp.

Sharp said that they have done a good job of making things work at the high school, but it is not up to par.

“We are the 10th largest [school] district in the state of Kansas, we have the 13th largest high school; our kids travel to the Blue Valleys, the Olathes, the Seamans, the Washburn Rurals and they have great facilities and in comparison of what our facility looks like or provides in that regard is not up to standard right now,” said Sharp.

Sharp cited many of the infrastructure issues in the school including a leaky roof, plumbing problems, and electrical and technological shortfalls, to name a few.

Sharp said with curriculum changes and the demands of staying competitive on a state, national and international scale, the current facilities do not support that initiative.

“All we ask of people is to be informed, be informed about the mil levy, be informed about what impact aid is, be informed about what highly impacted aid is, be informed about what the state would have to contribute…be informed,” said Sharp.

Sharp was a guest on the JC Now Morning Show on 1420 AM – The Talk of JC on Friday morning.

————

The following statement was previously released by the USD 475 Executive Director for Communications, Hugh Davis:

“The State will currently fund up to 48% of capital improvements through capital bond initiatives this year. If we do not call for a bond election, the State does not have to provide their 48% match. So in order to achieve our desired amount to build a school, a bond initiative is necessary even if our intent is to not increase the mil levy and just get the match.

The purpose of the steering committee is to come up with a recommendation and way forward for the high school.

Why now?

There is a cap on the amount of funding the State will pay toward bond issues this year, so we are currently competing with other districts for the same amount of dollars. It really comes down to a first come, first serve basis when it comes to bond issues.”