Hot Topic

YOUR QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS FROM KEVIN KAPP

Q. Have you considered having two campuses? Keeping the existing and building a smaller new campus?

A. The idea of two high schools has come up in discussions and is still "on the table." Cost factors would have be considered in that the school district would have to fund two high schools with administration, custodians, nurses, etc. and splitting the current Prescott High School would result in two smaller high schools of approximately 950 students each which would change our athletic program’s classification (probably a minor point but still a consideration).

Q. I am very concerned that you are going to have Northpoint children to be in the same facility with PHS children. I know that the money allocated for NELA was used already spent. Please verify concerns.

A. Thank you for asking your question about Northpoint and its future.

There is no plan at this time to combine Northpoint with Prescott High School. That idea has been suggested at some of our public meetings, but the Governing Board has not indicated strong interest in this idea at this point in time.

Northpoint has not lost any funding except the school district does not qualify for the 400-student building from the School Facilities Board of Arizona any longer. This building was awarded due to our growth in grades 9-12 and had not been officially designated for Northpoint or Prescott High School and is not a moot issue.

Northpoint will remain at the Dexter site for the time being or, perhaps, for some years in the future. Now that the Dexter site is nearly completely dedicated to Northpoint, the school is operating comfortably in the building.

Q. [It] sounds as if the decision to build on the north end of town has already been made. 

A. By no means has the school board made up its minds about a new high school either at the current campus or at a new site north of town. The Board did vote recently to build a new high school, but the Board intentionally did not specify the location. The Board is very interested in hearing what parents and the community have to say about this important topic and the two forums have been wonderful in accomplishing this goal.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION FROM KEVIN KAPP, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS

Prescott Unified School District is facing an important decision with regard to the current Prescott High School and its campus. Prescott High School opened in 1966 and has a “comfort capacity” of approximately 1500 to 1600 students with the additional buildings added to the campus since 1966. Currently PHS has approximately 1900 students in attendance. The school district’s new second high school, Northpoint Expeditionary Learning Academy, is located at the old Dexter Elementary School campus and has a student enrollment of approximately 160 students this year with expectations of adding 50 to 100 students over the next few years for an eventual enrollment of 400 students.

Prescott High School has experienced student enrollment growth every year since the 2002-03 school year, averaging around 3% a year over the past seven years. This enrollment growth has resulted in the PHS campus becoming crowded, and this growth has increased the necessity for the consideration of a new high school with larger capacity or remodeling the current high school campus to accommodate a larger number of students. In addition, the PHS campus is situated on approximately 32 acres, which is small in comparison to new high schools of similar size being built on the recommended 50 to 70 acres in Arizona.

The Governing Board recently voted unanimously to initiate planning in order to build a new high school for Prescott Unified School District. The timeline for this endeavor is still to be determined, as land options for a possible new high school are still being studied. No future date for a bond issue election has been determined at this point and a large bond issue would be necessary to construct a new high school. At this point in time, the school district high school enrollment growth does not qualify for assistance from the State of Arizona for the construction of a new high school.

Public forums are being held on this important topic. The first public forum was held Tuesday, August 26, with approximately 70 attendees. The topic of this forum was “The Future of the Prescott High School Campus If and When a New High School Is Built” and a total of twelve individuals shared their opinions on this topic. Seven of these individuals shared the opinion that the current PHS should be remodeled to accommodate a larger number of students rather than build a new high school north of Prescott at a site to be determined.

The school district encourages parents, students and community members to share their opinions on the topic either by attending future public forums and/or sharing their thoughts via the new “Hot Topic” link above.  We desire input and value the perspective of those affected by this very important topic.

Thank you and we look forward to hearing from you!