Hyde Park Future Educational Opportunities Committee
THANK YOU “FEO”
COMMITTEE MEMBERS!
The HPES Board asks
that you join us in thanking the Hyde Park residents who volunteered to serve
on the Hyde Park Future Education Opportunities “FEO” committee. After voters
last fall rejected the proposed school project, it was clear that a different
approach was needed to solve the many facility-related issues at HPES. In
response to the board’s invitation to form a new, independent committee to
tackle this challenge, twelve volunteers stepped forward: Mac Teale, Brickett
Bailey, Kathy Geirsbach, Russ Laggner, Dick Grogan, Noah Noyes (FEO Committee
Chair), Tanya Searles, Ken McPherson, Dave Shambaugh, Gary Smith, Paul Trudell
and Craig Fowler.
Each of those twelve
people was appointed by the board to serve on the committee, alongside board
member, Patti Hayford. Collectively, this group brought diverse skills,
talents and, ideas to the task. They were asked to carefully examine all
possible solutions to the now well-documented building problems, engage
meaningfully with our community, and make a recommendation to the board as to
how best to move forward. Committee volunteers put in innumerable hours
to accomplish this before wrapping up their work over the summer.
The detailed FEO
committee reports are now available at www.hpes.org.
The board will shortly publish its own report that summarizes the committee’s
work, including the options committee members examined and the conclusions they
drew, and that explains the direction the board is now taking as a
result. The board is profoundly grateful for the investment of time and
energy that the FEO committee members made on behalf of our community. We
extend our sincere appreciation to each of them, and hope you will similarly
extend your thanks.
We are please to introduce ourselves as the Hyde Park
Elementary School Future Educational Opportunities Committee. Our group has
been charged with exploring a variety of options for providing the children of
Hyde Park with an environment that supports a high quality education at a cost
that our community can afford. We are approaching this task with the intention
of casting the widest net possible and considering all options – to this end we
need your help and are requesting your thoughts and ideas.
This committee is composed of: Gary
Smith, Tanya Searles, David Shambaugh, Craig
Fowler, Dick Grogan, Russ Laggner, Brickett Bailey, Ken McPherson, Kathy
Geiersbach, Paul Trudell, Mac Teale, Noah Noyes* (Committee Chairperson), Patti
Hayford** (HPES School Board of Directors Representative), Diane Reilly***
(Principal)
The committee has started this process by brainstorming ideas.
Our list currently includes the following options:
1.Repair Current Building
Complete necessary repairs to address
safety, accessibility, efficiency, and other existing issues while retaining
the same footprint and overall structure of the current facility.
2.Addition
Complete necessary repairs to address
safety, accessibility, efficiency, and other issues while adding building
capacity with the addition of new space.
3.New Construction
Construct a new facility on new site.
4.Tuition to Other Schools
Exercise the option not to operate our
own school facility and pay tuition for Hyde Park students to attend other
existing institutions.
5.Merge/Consolidate with Other District(s)
Merge or Consolidate Hyde Park School
District with other willing partner(s).
6.Renovate Current Building and Rent or Lease
Additional Space
Rent or Lease additional space and
operate HPES as a campus model.
7.Privatize
HPES
Close HPES as a public school and
reopen as a private institution.
Our objective at this time is to solicit additional proposals
from the community. We are hoping to put all potential ideas on the table as
early as possible in this process. When this list is finalized, the committee
will move forward with the research phase and begin exploring the viability and
estimated costs of each option.
Please visit the following website to complete the digital
version of this survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LVMTVMR
Paper copies of this survey can be completed and submitted at
the following locations:
HPES Lobby
Hyde Park Town Office
Lanpher Memorial Library
Please do not hesitate to contact the committee chairperson
with any questions. All residents are encouraged to attend our meetings which
are held regularly on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month at 6:00PM in the
HPES library. All meeting notices, agendas, and minutes are posted at www.hpes.org. Thank you for your time
and contributions. The committee looks forward to working collaboratively to
find a path forward for our town.
