About eight years ago, then-Carthage Superintendent Blaine Henningsen and a committee led by Carthage residents Lora Phelps, Chuck Bryant and Beth Simmons hosted a series of public meetings to take a deep look at the needs of the R-9 School District and how to address them.
The series was called Carthage 2020, and it came up with a list of construction and academic goals, prioritized the list, and gave suggestions on how to fund them.
The year 2020 is almost here and current Carthage Superintendent Mark Baker is ready to take another look at that list and develop new priorities for the years after 2020.
Baker announced a new series of public meetings, to be called Carthage 2020 and Beyond, to start with a gathering at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 11 at the Carthage High School Commons.
Leaders
Baker said Phelps, a parent and senior vice president at Arvest Bank; Bryant, a parent and general manager of Carthage Water & Electric Plant; and Simmons, director the McCune-Brooks Healthcare Foundation, have agreed to return to lead the meetings. They will be joined by Patrick Scott, a parent and owner of the Heartland Financial Group.
“We started this process back in 2010 with Carthage 2020 and we developed some goals then,” Baker said after the Monday, Nov. 19 Board of Education meeting. “And we’re going to talk about the goals we met, maybe some we missed, and just refocus our efforts for the year 2020 and beyond.”
Carthage 2020 accomplishments
Baker said the district has met most of the goals set at the meetings eight years ago. The district has expanded its facilities, including the new Early Childhood Center, built with federal money and donations from the community; the new Carthage Intermediate Center and ongoing expansion at the former Carthage Middle School, addressing the need for space for a growing student population; hardened tornado shelters at the elementary schools, paid for with an innovative use of district capital improvements funds; and the new David Haffner Stadium, among others.
The district has also expanded its classroom offerings with more advanced placement classes, the dual-language program at Fairview Elementary School and others.
“The majority of items that were recommended, we’ve successfully completed,” Baker said. “I think the community support since then has been incredible, whether it be the bond issue or being involved in community activities, I think that kind of brought us together. We had hundreds of people involved in different aspect of Carthage 2020 and we anticipate the same things happening this time.”
Still to go
Among those items not completed that will likely be discussed at these meetings is an auditorium, or performing arts center, on the Carthage High School Campus.
Carthage resident Patrice Sacry spoke about that need in a letter to The Carthage Press last week, and that letter has received dozens of comments on The Press Facebook page.
Baker told The Carthage Press in July that a new auditorium at Carthage High School has always been on the list or priorities for the campus, but it will likely cost more than the $10 million the district spent on David Haffner Stadium.
“The big thing at the high school campus is build a new auditorium, which we’d love to do,” Baker said. “But that’s going to take a lot of money, it’ll take more money than the athletic complex. I think the biggest things left are the auditorium and the student activities center. Those will affect more people in our school district and our community than anything else that’s still left. At the same time, our high school is out of room. A growing school and community will build new about every 10-15 years. We’re at 10 years with the high school.”
More to come
Baker said he anticipates holding at least three or four more meetings after the initial Dec. 11 meeting. The original Carthage 2020 series was spread over six meetings in six months before recommendations were brought forward.
Baker said the goal is for all the meetings to last no more than an hour, and everyone is invited to attend.
“We will talk about the recommendations that came forward (in 2010), how we did with the recommendations, then we’ll break up into groups and discuss new recommendations, new ideas, what else do you want to hear from us,” Baker said. “All (people) need to do is bring some ideas, some discussion points, and just listen.”
Carthage 2020 and Beyond
The first meeting will be held at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 11 at the Carthage High School Commons. Residents will hear from administrators about what has been accomplished since the Carthage 2020 meetings earlier this decade and how the district continues to grow in student population currently. Residents will break into smaller groups to discuss what they hear from administrators and prepare for future meetings where they will set district priorities for the years after 2020.
Anyone who’s attended a function at the current auditorium at the soon-to-be defunct Junior High will tell you we’re in need of an upgrade. Everything from seating to parking for the general public is problematic. But, worse yet, are the behind-the-scenes issues that Mrs. Sacry pointed out in her comments are considerably behind the times or non-functioning due to misuse in the past. The sound system alone hasn’t worked properly for a number of years due to performances by the Marching Dragons, which were much too loud for that venue, to the Lip Sync Contest, which, by definition, uses recorded music typically set to volume levels that performances could be heard as far away as Carl Junction. On top of that, the location itself causes logistical issues for anyone in the performing arts programs provided by Carthage High School since it requires travel from the high school and transport of instruments, which can be damaged in the move, and students, which requires busing them from one point to the other.
A new performing arts center would provide a number of opportunities for students in our concert and jazz bands, our choral music groups, our debate team, and, of course, our actors and technicians. Many of these programs have recently gained notoriety by winning district and state championships. Unfortunately, many of these programs go unnoticed because our facilities are not capable of hosting these very same district and state competitions, again, for the reasons that Mrs. Sacry pointed out as well as those I’ve listed above. The reason I point this out particularly is because those very same reasons were the same given for the upgrade to our athletic complex which serves a considerably lower number of students on the football, soccer, and track teams.
Most disturbing though is the fact that we are going to allow money to be our number one drawback for why we cannot have a new performing arts center. Superintendent Baker seems to believe that the only possible venue we could have which would service our needs is going to cost $15 million. While I agree that we should have the best venue possible, I can’t help but think that there may be ways that the proposed design couldn’t be changed in such a way that the price tag isn’t so high. I’m not going to say that I have all the answers because I do not know all the facts that Mr. Baker has available to him, but, at this point, while a Cadillac center may be nice to have, a Chevy may be all we can afford at this time. Perhaps a design that would allow for expansion at a later period when the funds are available would be a viable option to consider in light of what we have to use at this time. The important thing to remember is this proposed facility will service not only a vast majority of students but also events given by the city, like the Lip Sync Contest. If the city wishes to continue using facilities dedicated for school functions, then they should also be willing to provide a portion of any funding needed for it’s construction.
As it stands right now, our current auditorium, when compared to venues that other area schools have, is an embarrassment. And it’s an embarrassment of our own making. I’ve heard it said that the athletic program generates more revenue and should, therefore, have a better facility. However, those other programs I’ve spoken of which would be serviced by an upgraded performing arts center, could also generate revenue if handled correctly. For instance, the Fall musical could have more performances instead of just four. Most nights, these musicals are standing room only and I’m certain they generate some revenue. Why not have more performances which would generate more revenue? Across the board, a number of performances could be increased by any of the performing arts programs which would increase revenue as well.
The bottom line is this: there is a need that has been outstanding for a number of years. Our students are the ones suffering for it as the need goes unaddressed. Students who go on to pursue these programs in college and life are handicapped by the fact that they are not properly trained to use equipment (sound and lighting boards, special effects systems, video systems, etc.) because they are not available for them to use. It’s time we level the playing field for these programs and the students who partake in them as well. In the end, Carthage High School will come out the winner because we have provided our kids with the best possible tools they’ll need in the future.
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