Insulation from the Yerger gym's ceiling can be seen dropping onto the gym floor in photo taken last week.
Above and below is an assortment of photos taken last week of the Yerger Middle School gym, estimated at 80 years old. The gym is in need of upgrades to its roof, ceiling, concession areas, weightroom, scoreboard, seating and more. State funding is available to cover 72 percent of the cost of the repairs, according to Hope Public Schools Superintendent Jonathan Crossley, but the district must match the remaining 28 percent.
To raise funds to provide that 28 percent match and to cover a range of other expenses, the district is holding a millage election Tuesday, August 8th.
At a Hope City Board of Directors meeting June 6th, Hope Public Schools Superintendent Jonathan Crossley invited members of the city’s leadership and any attendees to visit the schools’ campuses to see the places that will receive upgrades if the millage increase on the August 8th ballot is passed.
The results of the millage election of August 8th will determine whether the millage charge for citizens living within the bounds of the Hope school district will move up 12 mills, from 34.7 to 46.7. This would mean property taxes for those under 65 and not declared disabled would move up $10 monthly for a property whose market value is $50,000 and whose assessed value is $10,000.
The funding from the millage would go toward upgrades to every Hope Public Schools campus—including matching state funds for improvement of Hope High School’s Agri building--and to help raise pay for teachers and staff not included in the raises provided by the LEARNS Act.
Crossley said improving the Yerger gym was a project that he saw the need for in his first days of getting to know the campus. “I’ll be really honest. That gym was the first facility in Hope two years ago when I walked in and I was ashamed of and it’s probably still the only one that I’m actually ashamed of. And we have kids in there every day.” He invited the city leaders and attendees to the meeting to visit the gym after wet weather and “look up after a rain, look down after a rain” because of the leakage.
About the weight room, Crossley said the improvements contemplated there “will make our entire city proud.”
As well as refurbishing the gym, dollars from the millage raise would cover other improvements at Yerger, which Crossley listed at the June 6th City Board meeting. These would include upgrades to the appearance of the school’s courtyard and the inclusion there of an outdoor classroom, an increased number of parking spaces, easier-to-use and safer entryways to the campus and to its main building. The improved courtyard would include a display commemorating Henry C. Yerger’s contribution to education in Hope.
