New Philadelphia, Ohio - New Philadelphia school officials are seeking input from the community as they prepare to draw up a road map for the district’s future.

Superintendent David Brand says they will be hosting a series of public meetings beginning next week to hear the community’s thoughts on how to meet the district’s current and future needs.

“Overall, we just have various issues with our facilities, whether its the infrastructural needs and the continual maintenance that needed to happen with them, but also just the overcrowding with our growth and enrollment that we have,” he explains.

Brand says all options are on the table from remodeling to building new facilities and everything in between. He says now is a good time to begin those discussions as the district is eligible to have 55 percent of any improvements paid for by the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission. 

“It’s a good opportunity that we don’t want to miss, so we want to make sure we explore those opportunities to make the right decision that everybody in the community can get behind,” he says. 

Brand says people will have multiple opportunities this month to weigh in on the discussion.

“We do have three meetings scheduled here in January to work on the designing of our schools’ future. They are January 14th and 17th, both of those dates are a 6:30 start, and then January 29th, a 7 o’clock start, and they are held here at our district’s Front Avenue building,” he says.

Brand says they will also be posting information on the New Philadelphia City Schools website for community members unable to attend those meetings. 

STACEY CARMANY, TUSCO TV