Written by Michael Baker|

“So… Are they ever going to start building the new school?” says a friend to me as we drive by the designated place for the new school. I was curious too. It has been awhile since the vote passed for the new school, and everyone is wondering why the town has not broken ground yet. To find out more information on what is going on with The New Morgan School I took a trip down to  see Mrs. Hagness, our principal.

When driving by the Clinton Nursery greenhouses you can see that none of the greenhouses have been dissembled, and there is not any construction equipment. It makes one think that no progress has been made at all, but in fact The New Morgan School’s building committee has done quite a lot. Mrs. Hagness said, “We have almost completed the design process portion of the building.” The design process takes a lot of time. After the  design of the building is complete, Mrs. Hagness said that the plans will be sent to the state for approval. The approval process can take up to one year, but should not take that long. The next stage after approval would be to break ground and begin building the new school. Newman Architects were responsible for the design of the school, but they will not be the ones constructing the school. They will be working with FIP Construction to build and complete the school. If we look at the process of getting the school built, construction is hoped to be started by the Spring or Summer of 2014. The final piece to be accomplished after construction of the building will be purchasing furniture and materials which will be determined by what teachers and faculty think the school will need.

Looking back to when the town voted on whether or not a new school should be built many will remember that efforts to stop it. I asked Mrs. Hagness if some of the townspeople were still trying to stop the new school. She said, “Yes, there are efforts that are being undertaken to slow the process.” The idea that the project is not needed is why many are trying to stop it. Some think that all that is needed is some renovation on our current high school. The only problem with renovating the school is that it would cost more money than the new school.

Many teachers in school are opinionated and shared some of the things that bothered them the most. Almost of them believe that we really do need a new school. Our current one is run down, disgusting, and no longer meets today’s technological standards. The decision to build the new school with ‘academies’ (See: New Morgan School: What Are Academies) is an okay idea, but it will completely change the way of teaching and many teachers are unsure and in the dark about it. They hope to see that the new school will be built as quickly as possible and that everything will go smoothly.

With time, The New Morgan School will be built and it is being done as quickly as possible.

Have any questions concerning The New Morgan School? Email to staff@morganpawprint, or comment below!

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