To the Editor,

It has been an honor and privilege to serve on the Henning School Board for the last 14 years.  We, the Henning School Board, have been committed to ensuring that the Henning School offers a quality education, maintains a safe and comfortable facility and fairly compensates the faculty and staff while being frugal with our residents’ tax dollars.  Over the past year, school board members and district staff conducted studies and held meetings with students, teachers, and community members to gain a better understanding of the needs of our aging school building.  

To put it in perspective, the last major renovation occurred in 1995.  Parts of our elementary have been relatively untouched for almost 70 years.  A few things became very clear during our meetings:  Education has changed substantially over the nearly 70 years since our elementary classrooms were last renovated.  Our building needs to be more flexible and better equipped to support new technology.  A variety of repairs and upgrades are needed that go well beyond our maintenance budget.  Our students need a better use of our space to include a student commons area, cafeteria, gym space and theater space.  

Based on the results of studies, several planning meetings, and community feedback, the Henning School Board has put forward a $26.3 million bond referendum on the Nov. 8 ballot. If the two-question reinvestment plan is approved, the district will be able to update classrooms, modernize security, improve indoor air quality, and add new spaces for a dedicated cafeteria and commons area, career and technical education, a parking lot with a parent drop-off loop, and more. We believe these improvements will support a healthy, safe, and productive learning environment for our students, teachers and community members for many years to come.

Folks, this is an important community decision and we know that not everyone agrees with it.  All I ask is that you make an educated decision before casting your vote – to help with this we are doing all we can to provide the information our residents need to make an informed vote.  We have created a dedicated website, OurSchoolOurHornets.org, where you can find more details about our building’s needs, our plan to address them, the proposed tax impact, and voting.  If you have questions, please ask.  We hope everyone makes their voice heard on Election Day. 

Thank you, 

Reed Reinbold, 

Chair of the Henning School Board