Administrator

SOMERSET SCHOOLS HEADING TO A BRIGHT FUTURE!

I am very grateful to our school community for supporting the school district during the last two years, as we navigated through the uncharted waters of the pandemic. We had to make many unpopular decisions during this time for the good of our students, staff, and school community. I am very proud of how our system performed during these difficult times. We learned a great deal over the past two years and will be better prepared for future world challenges.

With the passage of the 2019 Bond and Levy all of our schools and grounds have a new clean look and improved security during the summer of 2020. I cannot thank the Somerset area residents enough for their support in passing the largest construction bond in the district’s history, and investing in the future of our children.

The referendum passed in 2019 took care of half the needs of the school district. We took care of many infrastructure and mechanical updates. The activities portion was dropped to insure the passage of the infrastructure needs. A facilities committee has been formed to study the remaining activity needs facing the district. This committee has met several times over the past months to examine the needs and costs of upgrading our facilities. Committee members will be making a recommendation to the school board on several projects. The school board will look at the proposed projects and make a decision to survey the broader community to determine the level of support for these projects. Once the survey is complete, the school board will make a final determination as to what projects will move forward for a fall 2022 public election.

Projects that have support of the facilities committee were: n Performing Arts Center (auditorium) n Rebuilding of the track and stadium n Additional gym space n Baseball and softball complex on campus n Additional grounds and maintenance work

If you haven’t noticed, housing construction has begun around our campus. Home construction has been on the rise throughout our district. The 350 plus homes surrounding our campus are mostly family-friendly homes and will surely add students to our schools. The facilities committee sees the above listed projects as community needs in order to keep us competitive not only in curricular and co-curricular activities but as a progressive community willing to invest in our children’s future.

Our Strategic Plan is our roadmap to the future. Each year, in the spring, a wide demographic of community members (The Core Planning Team) gathers to evaluate our work of the previous school year. Unfortunately, due to the circumstances of last spring, we were unable to gather in person but progress was documented for each of the results statements in play last year. Our Mission is “Together we Engage, Educate, and Empower all learners; bridging their passions to pathways to create successful futures and positively contribute to our local and global communities”. The Strategic Plan is made up of our Mission, Core Values, 2 Learner Outcomes, 4 Strategies, and 28 Result Statements. The complete Strategic Plan document as well as our yearly progress can be found on our district website.

Our administrative team, employees and school board are dedicated to providing the Somerset community with a high quality educational experience for each and every learner.

It is the goal of the school board, administrative team, and all employees to offer a safe and caring learning environment, while offering a world class education to each and every learner while being prudent with taxpayer dollars. The School Board will be spending a great deal of time this spring hiring a new District Administrator. After 42 years in education, I have decided to retire. I am pleased that I was fortunate enough to spend the last six years of my career with the students, staff, and school community of the Somerset area.

Thank you!

Dr. Mark R Bezek District Administrator NEWS Spartan