By CAMILA FERNANDEZ
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
Several major school construction projects at the forefront of the growing Westfield Washington Schools district are set to begin soon.
Tomamichel
Brian Tomamichel, assistant superintendent for business and operations at Westfield Washington Schools, told News 8, “Classrooms are starting to get tight. The space is starting to get a little tight. It’s time to expand the district, so we’re excited to be able to do that.”
News 8 first reported in January about the Hamilton County district’s plans for expansion. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Westfield is the sixth fastest-growing city in the country. The city’s population grew 7.7 percent from July 2021 to July 2022.
“I just recently moved to Westfield about a year ago, and, the block that I’m on, I am the only Indy native on our block. Everybody else: California, Kansas, Idaho, New York and Kentucky. It’s all over the country where they’re coming from,” Tomamichel said.
With a growing population, Westfield Washington Schools is getting ready to create two new elementary schools and a middle school to meet the new demand of students.
School officials say they’ll also renovate Shamrock Springs Elementary School and Carey Ridge Elementary School.
A new transportation center will be built to accommodate the need for more school buses.
Much of the construction is expected to begin in 2024. It’s all part of the more than $400 million Destination Westfield Project.
Lorenda Carr, a former Westfield Washington parent and co-owner of Dance Innovations Performing Arts Center, says she’s excited about the new changes.
“We are the fastest-growing city in the state of Indiana, so it just makes sense if the people are coming because our schools are amazing, our schools are absolutely incredible,” Carr said. “My kids had a great education, and if they’re going to keep coming we need to accommodate them.”
Superintendent Paul Kaiser says the changes won’t be hurdles for taxpayers.
“Because of the tremendous growth and the leadership that we’ve had in Westfield, we have people that want to move here and, as they move and build these neighborhoods, those tax revenues build the schools, so we’re really in a very good situation that we don’t have to raise the tax rate,” Kaiser said.
Tomamichel said, “We’re roughly about 10,000-kid capacity across the entire district right now. By the time we’re done, our full build-off capacity will be about 12,500, so that will give us some room to grow for the next few years and then the other area we know we have to address as we move forward is the high school capacity.”