Superintendent's Message

Dr. Rocky D. Killion

More News - Winter 2020

Welcome to 2020!

First, I want to thank everyone who supported the petition of WLCSC’s lawsuit challenging the $1 charter school law where an unused public-school building can be leased by a charter school for $1 without any input from the local taxpayers whose taxes helped pay for the building. Since the initiation of WLCSC’s lawsuit challenging this law, two other school districts have filed suit against the state. If it becomes clear that WLCSC’s lawsuit could be thrown out by the Judge due to his opinion that the case is not “ripe” to be heard because a charter school has yet to show interest in Happy Hollow, then WLCSC may drop the lawsuit in Tippecanoe County and join the two northern school districts to help ensure the lawsuit is heard. It’s not that WLCSC will be moving away from challenging this law. Instead, WLCSC will be moving into a new jurisdiction to help ensure the lawsuit is heard on the merits of the challenge. Also, the 1,000+ WLCSC taxpayer signatures will be utilized in the new jurisdiction.

Second, I want to share some updates regarding WLCSC's facilities improvements.

Red Devil Dining Court
Over winter break, the Red Devil Dining Court at the Jr/Sr High School became operational. When students arrived on January 6, they were offered a newly designed dining court with food stations to use during their respective lunch periods. Below is a picture of the Red Devil Dining Court food stations.

Richard A. Wachs Jr. Aquatic Center
The Richard A. Wachs Jr. Aquatic Center (RAWAC) became operational on December 12. Since then, several swim meets have been held there and the swim teams continue to use the facility for practices and meets. In the coming months, patrons and community groups will be able to request rental of the facility for special events.

James R. Guy Academic Wing
The James R. Guy Academic Wing (JRGAW) project has been delayed about 12 weeks due to needing special girders for a load-bearing wall that was behind another wall. Those girders have arrived and the project is operational once again. The anticipated completion date is summer 2021.

Bob Kelly Performing Arts Center
WLCSC just completed the process to bond for the start of the Bob Kelly Performing Arts Center (BKPAC). The construction should begin late spring. If all goes well, the BKPAC will open the summer of 2021.

Anyone who would like to donate towards these projects can do so by going to the West Lafayette Schools Education website https://wlsef.org/rdp-project/. Some have asked why donate if these facilities are already being erected? The answer is to help WLCSC improve those facilities during construction. The more funds available, then more we will be able to upgrade these facilities. Moreover, the additional funds will help WLCSC administration with additional bonding capacity. As soon as WLCSC can increase its bonding capacity without impacting the debt service tax rate, the sooner Happy Hollow can be repurposed into an Early Childhood/Kindergarten Center pending School Board authorization.

I wish everyone a wonderful 2020. Happy New Year!

Respectfully,

Dr. Rocky Killion

Superintendent of Schools

Bob Kelly Performing Arts Center

Performing Arts

James R. Guy Academic Wing

Education Wing