With the November election right around the corner, everyone's eyes are on the presidential candidates.
However, my town's eyes are on the high school as well.
Why?
Well I'll start with some background information, but first a photo.
Pretty, right? Well yes. On the outside it is very pretty.
The school was built in 1929 and renovated to add the new gym and two wings in 1959.
It's nicknamed The Castle or The Castle on the Water because it looks remarkably like a castle and it sits on the Rock River.
Yes, it's beautiful. I will admit. But, now, let's take a look at the inside.
As you can see from just these two photos, the school is falling down. A friend of mine said that it's been like this since the 80s when she attended. More photos like these can be seen here.
I have memories of classes being moved because crews had to come in and move atspetoes. I never really felt totally safe in the building. I was always afraid plaster would fall on me or I would get cancer from the school.
Besides the obvious health problems, there were more problems. The school is four stories high. The elevator only went to the third floor. Injured and handicapped students simply couldn't take classes on the fourth floor. This wasn't quite fair as all advanced English classes were held up there along with most English classes in general.
Speaking of the fourth floor, it was hard to get to classes on time. The school was built back when many students attended DHS. Now, nearly 400 students attend; that number decreases regularly as well. To pack all of the education into one day, the school cut passing time to 5 minutes. It was very difficult to get from the gym all the way to the opposite side of the fourth floor and still stop at your locker.
As you can tell, there is a need for a change in DHS. A new, smaller school would be best for the community. However, many people are trying to fight for it to just be renovated.
The renovation wouldn't help the fact that the school is simply oversized. Nor would it guarantee that it would be completely handicap accessible.
The renovation still has a $22 million price tag attached to it and it wouldn't begin to address the educational aspects of the building.
Building a brand new high school would $5.4 million less and would open up the design to be educationally friendly as well as more safe for the students and handicap accessible.
I get the historical aspects of DHS. Ronald Reagan went there. It's historical. Building a new school doesn't mean tearing down or forgetting the history. It only means doing what's best for our future generations.
And that's why I'm voting yes + yes on my ballot.
