Election Day Message from Dr. Cain
It's Election Day - be sure to cast your vote!
Good Morning,
The close of the school year brings with it a wide range of feelings that include anxiety and uncertainty, as well as inspiration, pride, and hope. As we close out this historic and unprecedented school year, we are challenged to prepare multiple plans for an uncertain start to the next school year, which is less than three months away. We will look to all stakeholders for assistance with those efforts to ensure while we are focused on the safety and health of everyone, we are considering various levels of comfort as well as the fiscal and logistical feasibility of those plans. Our goal and our hope is that by August we will all be in a place where in-person instruction is both possible and widely accepted.
We also take great pride in our students, our staff, and our families who had to pivot significantly on March 16 to virtual learning and instruction. What we witnessed was no surprise, yet no less inspirational: students, staff and families stepping up and demonstrating once again how creative, talented and flexible we can be in the face of adversity. I could not be any more proud of all of those efforts to continue learning and personal connections in meaningful and effective ways.
While the pandemic has certainly affected our short-term operations, it has not changed our long-term needs. The Wentzville School District continues to be the fastest growing District in the state, adding on average nearly 600 students each year over the past two decades. Propositions C and S are on the ballot today to address the needs of our growing District.
PROPOSITION C is a $105 million no-tax-increase bond issue to build a new middle school on the same site where the District is currently building a fourth high school, to expand and/or renovate the District’s three existing middle schools, to address maintenance issues at existing buildings and purchase items related to school safety.
PROPOSITION S is a $0.49 tax levy to address staffing and provide needed support across the District, improve salaries to address widening wage gaps between the WSD and neighboring school districts, and to update and add safety features across the District.
The benefits of an excellent school district are far-reaching for each student certainly, but also for the citizens of a strong community who benefit from higher home values, which boost our local economy and afford us all tremendous pride in this great community. Thank you for your continued support of the work we do on behalf of the students, families, staff and stakeholders of the Wentzville School District. Together, as a team, we will continue to move this outstanding District forward.
Sincerely,
Curtis Cain, Ph.D.
Superintendent