Celebrations of student achievement, new state legislation, and the future of Goshen’s school buildings were all topics of discussion at the Goshen Board of Education’s retreat on Saturday, April 13.
The five members of the Goshen Board met with principals and administrators in an all-day session at GHS to dig into challenges facing the district and to hear from principals about great things students and staff are doing in each building.
“This retreat is our chance to have extended conversations with our Board members, to talk about where we are today and what’s coming in the future,” Superintendent Brian Bailey said.
Board members rotated through discussions with Principals Stephanie Walker, Wendy Flynn, Ashley Andrews and Chalee Stevens to go over student testing data, areas of strengths and weaknesses and what their plans are for next school year.
Bailey, Treasurer Todd Shinkle and other members of the administrative team then led the Board through a discussion about district finances, new mandates from the state, and the recent bond issue failure. The team also discussed the timeline for several capital improvement projects that have been delayed because of recent tornado repairs and the recent bond issue failure.
Regarding the bond issue, the Board indicated it did not want to go back on the ballot with the same request that failed on March 19. They agreed to have further discussion on the financial impact of keeping or ending the district’s open enrollment policy, and the potential to internally fund a “band aid” solution for more classroom space.