As the 2021-2022 school year drew to a close, the district gathered on Tuesday, May 3rd, 2022, to address a $66,700,000 bond proposal, and when the dust settled, it passed. With the passing of the bond, the district quickly got to work on making this bond a reality.
Since the start of construction, there’s been worry about how the 2023-2024 school year would play out. Luckily, the district managed to get the buildings to the point where they could have the students in the buildings, just in time for the start of the next school year.
However, the bond was still highly unfinished, as it is projected to be complete in 2028. This posed serious challenges for the students of Lake Shore High School. When assistant principal Dr. Todd Stevens was interviewed, he clarified some of the concerns behind the bond.
He revealed some details on what is being done with the $66,700,000 bond, “In terms of the high school, they’re just wrapping up all of the stuff that was in the classrooms, the furniture, flooring, painting, they’re wrapping those up as part of what they call a punch list, where they have the last-minute details that are getting finished up, by the end of October hopefully. Then, the stuff that you see in the front, is the brand new main office that they’re going to push out a little bit, and then they’re creating a large student commons/cafeteria area that will stretch from the front of the school to the back of the school.”
This is a very important step forward for Lake Shore High School as the current commons area is only a small portion of the entire school. So, this larger more spacious commons will give students more space to spread out if needed.
Stevens mentions that parts of the bond are already underway. He said, “Over the Summer, a lot of it was the flooring, updated lighting in classrooms, was wrapped up. Some of that stuff the students might’ve seen before school got out, they were doing a little bit here and there, but, with students in the building, they’re limited to what they can do. So, they were getting through those projects as the Summer went on. Students should notice new furniture throughout the building,”
This is an imperative part of the bond, as the students were welcomed back with the bond work in some areas being visible.
“Some of that stuff the students might’ve seen before school got out. They were doing a little bit here and there, but, with students in the building, they’re limited to what they can do. So, they were getting through those projects as the summer went on. Students should’ve noticed new furniture throughout the building,” Stevens said.
This is a step that was already being pushed into the district towards the end of the 2022-2023 school year when the bond passed, and some of the classrooms were fitted with “Flexible Seating.”
Stevens gave the students a perspective on the progress of the bond.
He stated, “We hope to be back to normal by the beginning of the school year next year. So, we might still have some of the punch list items, and some of the other tiny details, but other than that, we should be ready to go, by the next school year.”
This is an interesting point because the “Bond Information” section of the school website, gives the community a map of when the bond will be completed. This all started in 2022 when the designing began, and Lake Shore High School’s portion of the bond is projected to be completed in 2025, while the bond itself is projected to be completed in 2028.
With the bond in progress, Lake Shore Public Schools is in for a transformation that will change the district’s history.
