By Lilly Buist / Editor in chief, Johnathon Shaffer / Sports editor and Nathaniel Morris / Staff writer
The last class to complete seventh and eighth grade in the current NPJH building will be the class of 2030, according to a message shared via ParentSquare on March 11.
Fifth grade students will return to the elementary schools, while sixth, seventh, and eighth graders will all attend “NPJH” in the current NPI building. Now, teachers and administrators must plan for what the newly arranged district will look like next year.
While fifth grade teacher Holly Torgersen completely understands the decision to shift fifth grade back to the elementary schools, she will still miss being with all of the fifth grade teachers in NPI.
“We were all very excited to move here initially because before that, to collaborate with teachers of the same grade in another building, there would be a district meeting, if you’re lucky a couple times a year,” Torgersen said. “So, we’ve gotten really used to popping in all the fifth grade teachers’ classrooms. We always gravitate towards each other, and it’s very easy.”
According to superintendent Gina Pleak, this decision was made due to funding issues.
“Everything is evident with changes in legislation (and) how schools are being funded. Utility costs continue to go up. Electric, gas, water continue to increase, our property and casualty insurance, like your parents at home have home insurance on the house, or you have car insurance. But we have insurance on schools. And then the rate of everything is increasing. Those things alone are increasing at a higher rate than money we’re getting from the state to be able to pay those things,” Pleak said.
The NPJH building’s many necessary repairs contributed to these financial issues.
“Some things we couldn’t do long term fixes because a lot of the machines and equipment were so outdated, you couldn’t even really get replacement parts for it anymore,” Pleak said.
This decision stemmed from studies Pleak began when she became superintendent of the NPCS district almost two years ago.
Teachers who are affected by this change were asked to fill out a Google Form in order to share their building and subject preference.
“They would like to give everyone first choice, but I think the goal is just to make everyone happy since the building is basically closing. So I think they’re just trying to figure out what everyone’s preferences are and if they can make everyone happy,” Torgersen said.
Decisions regarding the subject each employee will teach particularly affect staff members like current junior high health teacher Doug Darley, who is certified to teach both math and health. Darley has no idea what the coming years will look like for him in his teaching career, partially due to this district change, and partially due to the current lack of a junior high principal for the coming school year.
“We’re up in the air with what some of us are gonna be doing. Right now, I know my schedule for health is I have seventh grade health. What will that look like next year? I don’t know yet. There’s just a lot of things that we are just kind of in the dark about for now, which is okay. It’s just the way it is when we have an administrator that leaves and goes to a different position, and just kind of where we are. We’ll make the most of it,” Darley said.
Administrators have paid attention to the concern of overcrowding, and Pleak noticed it specifically at the current NPJH building.
“If you go into the band room, you see how many kids were in band class in the little area. So that was probably a building that was maximized the most,” Pleak said. “But NPI was operating (at) about 65% capacity.”
Torgersen believes that this change may ease the transition from fourth to fifth grade, as fifth grade is a “pivotal” year.
“Over the past eight years, there’s been a bigger and bigger gap between fourth and fifth grade, for whatever reason,” Torgersen said. “I don’t know if it’s just because we are in different buildings and we don’t get to have that conversation that we get to have with sixth grade where we know what they’re actively doing in the building. They might even tell us, ‘We’d like to see sixth graders more prepared in this way,’ where we don’t really get to ever have those conversations with fourth grade teachers unless we reach out. So I think it’ll smooth some of that.”
Pleak wants the community to understand that this decision was not made with haste or disregard to individuals with personal ties to the NPJH building.
“When we were weighing all options, it really was, what is best for the student? Because my job as a superintendent is (to) think student first. And this community is so strong about education and youth,” Pleak said.
While Darley believes he may be a little sad to see the NPJH building go, he finds his emotional connections elsewhere.
“For me, it’s more about the students and the staff, and the people I work with around here. I know that in the community, I’m sure there’s lots of people who went to school here. I personally did not, but they would still have some of those emotions and may be a little sad to see it go. It’s been such a community fixture for so long,” Darley said. “But for me, it’s more about the students than the actual structure itself. I’ll miss it, of course. I’ve had a lot of fun here in this building, but it’s going to be fine wherever we end up.”
What Torgersen will miss most about teaching in the current structure is the sense of community with specific individuals.
“We love our bosses. It’s sad that everybody’s being split up. We’re just truly a family here. I know that, too, it’ll be less transitions for the kids… so I think it’ll be good with fifth grade being back in the elementaries,” Torgersen said.
“I think everyone will be really welcoming. I think everyone is sympathetic to the fact that it’s kind of like a divorced family. I think everyone’s very understanding of that,” Torgersen said.
