Westville district reports capital work, staffing and start-of-school plans ahead of Aug. 13 reopening

At the Aug. 11 meeting the Westville City Schools administration updated the board on summer capital projects, staffing and the district’s phased student return schedule for the new school year. Operations staff reported $2.5 million in HVAC work at Charrington, Walnut Springs and Genoa Middle School, plus accessible restroom construction at Robert Frost, Mark Twain and Walnut Springs and gym enclosures at Robert Frost and Mark Twain. Bond-funded kitchen renovations were completed at Whittier and Hawthorne and health inspectors have approved meal service, the district said. Custodial teams cleaned and reset more than 2,000,000 square feet of district facilities over the summer, staff said. On staffing, administrators said convocation and new-staff orientation welcomed 72 newly hired staff members, including licensed and classified employees; the district reported five licensed vacancies remain and long-term substitutes will staff those classrooms at the start of school. Administrators also announced the district hired retired Westerville administrator Juliet Peoples on a limited consulting role to support federal title funds and audit transitions. Administrators outlined the student return schedule: grades 1–5 on the first regular day (Aug. 13), sixth and ninth graders only on the first day for middle/high school, all middle and high school students on the second day, and a gentle start for preschool and kindergarten across the first three days with full start the following Monday. Board members thanked operations, custodial, transportation, food service and technology teams for summer work and urged families to use the district’s back-to-school web resources for schedules, bus routes and online forms.