School Board Update

During a facilities update at the April 26 school board meeting, President Mary Graham had asked Business Administrator Nick Heinlein for a visual of what a sixth grade wing would look like at Jacobsen Middle School. At the May 24 meeting, Heinlein presented drawings that clearly explained the vision for the new wing. Heinlein said that he needed a board consensus in order to move forward with the planning for the wing. Options presented were whether to include eight or ten classrooms and whether to consider a STEM Center and where it should be.

Trustee Jackie Wood said that she felt that the district should move forward with both of these projects as soon as possible and the board was in agreement. The consensus was that the priority should be ten 6th grade classrooms at JMS and then, if the budget allows, place the STEM Academy at the Wells Education Center.

Superintendent Susan Andreas-Berval told the board that the STEM Center would service grades TK-5. She added that Kern County is not currently preparing it's students to go into the more sophisticated science careers that are available right here in the county.