Future Growth Plan -Timing Adjusted for New Elem

Superintendent Dr. Jack Parker shared an enrollment update at the recent MVCSC Board of Trustees meeting. A few key points include that our enrollment has had a little slower growth than predicted in the 2019 demographer's report. There are likely a number of reasons for the slower growth which could include the impact of a pandemic, the supply of building materials available to builders, inflation and potentially many more.

Enrollment is consistently tracked by Mt. Vernon leaders. Each individual grade level is tracked from year-to-year, monitoring the growth or decrease in each cohort every year. 

Since the 2018-2019 school year, MVCSC has grown 415 students. This averages just over 100 students per year. This slower enrollment climb is in tandem with a continual decrease in transfer students. Mt. Vernon has the third lowest net transfer students of the four county schools (transferring into Mt. Vernon). The number of transfer students has decreased from 678 in 2018 to 575 in 2022 with only 38 students this year from families that are new to Mt. Vernon. As shared before, once a family is a Mt. Vernon family, they will always be a Mt. Vernon family.

The Future Growth Plan was previously adjusted to push the new Fortville Elementary build back one year. With the most recent enrollment analysis, Dr. Parker shared that the elementary building will be pushed back an additional year to open in the fall of 2025. This is when the current Fortville Elementary building will return to the intermediate school for grades five and six and the Fortville Elementary students will move into their new building. This transition will peel grade six out of the middle school and grade five out of each of the elementary schools, creating more growth capacity.

As Dr. Parker has shared, Mt. Vernon will not build until "we see the whites of their eyes." We want to be highly responsible the the timing of the build. Mt. Vernon leaders are committed to being good stewards of Mt. Vernon funds.

The current Fortville Elementary School (formerly the Mt. Vernon Intermediate School) had its planned addition completed by the start of this school year as the space was needed by current students. The new Transportation Building will be located in the northwest corner of the land Mt. Vernon purchased to the north and east of the Fortville campus. The planned road through the north and east side of the Fortville Campus will help traffic flow and the middle school drop-off/pick-up line for parents/guardians. The road through the campus should be done by August 2023, and the Transportation Building should be completed by December 2023.

The high school renovation and middle school renovation were also pushed back one year to the fall of 2026 and fall of 2028, respectively. Mt. Vernon leaders will continue to have a keen eye on enrollment, the cost of construction and all the intricacies that play into these decisions. Please take a moment to review the revised Future Growth Plan diagram and watch Dr. Parker's Future Growth Plan update video below to see a map and additional details.