Committee Urges School Board Vote on Junior High

The following is a letter sent to the board of education from the Superintendent's Boundary Committee. It was provided by the committee.

Open Letter to the Oswego 308 Board of Education; 

We, the members of the Superintendent's District Boundaries Committee, by consensus, formally request that the action to decide whether Murphy Junior High should be opened for the 2012-2013 school year or kept closed for a determined amount of time be placed on the January 9th Board Agenda. This Committee feels that neglecting this action will delay the work we have volunteered for and place unnecessary strain on the registration process for the 308 school district.

Associate Superintendent Todd Colvin has provided a great deal of pertinent information over the past few Board Meetings, which we the Committee believe is enough information that a reasonable and prudent decision can be made. To date, the facts are that (1) the district student population continues to grow 3-4% per year, (2) Bendarcik Junior High is projected to be in excess of 1,100 students next year, or 150 students over capacity, (3) Traughber Junior High is projected to be at or slightly over capacity, (4) keeping Murphy Junior High closed will place additional stress and overcrowding to the student population, (5) the estimated cost to open Murphy Junior High for school year 2012-2013 is $800,000, and 6) there are sufficient students to populate Murphy with 300-500 students in 2012-2013 school year while reducing population at otherwise overcrowded schools.

We look forward to fulfilling our commitment to developing a strong boundary recommendation to address the needs of our children. Please take the necessary steps to ensure that a decision regarding the future of Murphy Junior High is reached at the January 9th Board of Education meeting.

Respectfully,

The members of the District 308 Superintendent's Boundary Committee