By: Dr. Darron Arlt - PHS Superintendent
The month of December is a bit of a dichotomy with one eye looking forward toward the excitement of a new year and all the possibilities that we hope to achieve, and the other reflecting back on what was accomplished in the year coming to a close.
What worked? What didn’t? Can we replicate the attitudes and behaviors that contributed to achievements of the last 12 months?
The year 2025 in many ways may go down as historic and transformational for Plainview Public Schools. Sure, we achieved varying levels of success in student activities in and out of the classroom. Most notably, our students made double digit gains across the board in our state assessment testing. After a deep dive into our trends in state assessment performance going back a decade, our 2025 performance was by far our greatest academic achievement! I’ll have more details in my Annual Report to the board next month.
Dominating our non-routine requirements and opportunities this last year was a series of meetings with architects, construction companies, fiscal agents, and community members. In September of 2024, the board contracted with CWP Architects to conduct a “facility audit” of Plainview Public Schools. In April of this year, that audit was made public and since that time, through a series of lengthy meetings, we’ve arrived at a plan that we’re inching closer to endorsing for a vote of district patrons in May of next spring.
As you all know, our last bond election occurred 50 years ago last month which produced the 1977 addition and the Pirate Gym which we’re all familiar with. More than half of Plainview Public Schools is older still with current spaces built in 1920, 1949, 1956, & 1964. We’ve “wiggled” into a plan that we’re starting to wrap our arms around that will secure us for the next 50 years.
When we return from Christmas break, I anticipate our committee and school board will become laser focused on communicating the need for such a significant investment which addresses academic, early childhood, skilled labor, performing arts, and activity needs while addressing safety, efficiency, and handicap accessibility. Yes, there is something for everyone, but that does result in a pricey project.
Our committee has done a terrific job of focusing on needs and not a number. We could “chase a number” that we feel could pass but that would leave us with unmet needs that would have to wait at least 25 more years until this bond would be paid down. These needs are not going away, and they are only going to get more expensive.
We plan to go to great lengths to communicate the ‘why’, ‘what’, and ‘how’ of this transformational project and yes, ask you to support the sacrifice that is required to make it happen. No one, including myself, wants to pay higher taxes. But at least these tax dollars are going to something here in our community that we can see and use, something for the kids, and for the future of Plainview. Too often our tax dollars end up in Lincoln or Washington D.C., with the sense of never realizing the difference that our investment may make.
As we pause for the holidays and set aside our focused ambition for this transformational improvement for Plainview Public Schools, we hope your time with family and friends is blessed with safety, peace, and happiness. To be continued in 2026!