Understanding that a school district is a direct reflection of the community it serves, the school board and leadership team of Fennville Public Schools is committed to a facility planning strategy that reflects the priorities of the taxpayers and meets the needs of our students and communities.

To ensure future facility decisions make sense for students, are fiscally responsible, and have community support, our commitment to the residents of FPS will include expanded communication with District residents:
- - Community Advisory Task Force (see below)
  - Staff Ideation
  - Community Survey
The FPS School Board and District are in the process of developing a long term facility plan to address physical, functional, and educational needs of students for the next 10, 20, and even 30 years. The initial plan will be based on stakeholder input, identified needs, and funding; we will continue to adjust the plan as more information becomes available.

As we embark on this process, we will share this information on this website, district emails, and social media.

Community Advisory Task Force

The Community Advisory Task Force is a dedicated group of community members focused on delivering their insight and input to the FPS School Board as the board plans for the future of our schools. During these meetings, this team will cover the following:

Demographics, assessment of facilities, educational environments (including co-curricular), facility tours, financial health of the district, and more!

We are grateful to our community members for being a part of this process and providing input for the District to consider as we explore the options for moving forward with our facility planning.

The Fennville Community is at the heart of the Schools, and the Fennville Public Schools is at the heart of the Community.

Task Force Meeting Highlights

Introductions and Overview

Financial Meeting

Facility Tour

Outdoor Discovery Center Presentation

Task Force Prioritizing Areas of Improvement

District Leadership Workshop

Task Force Group

Meeting #1: November 12, 2024

The Advisory Task Force met for the first time. Twelve Fennville community members were given an outline of the upcoming process, including learning about Michigan school funding, facility engineering reports, tours of the schools, and potential outdoor learning opportunities. At the conclusion of the process they will give a recommendation to the school board on the future of Fennville facilities.

Meeting #2: November 13, 2024

The Advisory Task Force meeting began with providing additional demographic and academic information about the Fennville school district and surrounding area. The rest of the meeting was spent learning how Michigan school financing works, both on a local and state level.

Guest speakers included Dr. Doug Greer, Superintendent of Fennville Schools, and Nathanial Watson from PFM Financial Advisors, the financial advisor for Fennville Schools.

VIEW THE MEETING PRESENTATION

Meeting #3: November 19, 2024

The Advisory Task Force reviewed engineering reports of all three Fennville school facilities. Dan Rastall, Director of Operations for Fennville Public Schools, then led a tour of the middle school.

VIEW THE MEETING PRESENTATION

Meeting #4: December 2, 2024

The Advisory Task Force reviewed the process to this point, then were led on a tour of the high school by Director of Operations Dan Rastall.

VIEW THE MEETING PRESENTATION

Meeting #5: December 9, 2024

The Outdoor Discovery Center presented their audit on the Fennville School grounds, which included opportunities to incorporate outdoor learning on the school campus, the benefits of outdoor education, how it supplements classroom instruction. The group then toured the elementary school, led by Director of Operations Dan Rastall. A link to the ODC’s findings is here.

View the ODC Presentation ⇨

Meeting #6: December 10, 2024

The advisory task force provided feedback on an upcoming community survey.

VIEW THE MEETING PRESENTATION

Meeting #7: February 4, 2025

The task force was briefed on targeted community survey results, reviewed the district’s new strategic plan image, established their priorities for the district, and prioritized potential scope items.

SitelogIQ worked with the District Leadership Team to review community survey findings and establish priorities.

VIEW THE MEETING PRESENTATION

Meeting #8: February 5, 2025

In the advisory task force’s final meeting, they reviewed the findings from the school finance research foundation and came to a consensus recommendation to present to the school board.

VIEW THE MEETING PRESENTATION

School Board Presentation: February 10, 2025

Dan Rastall, Scott Achterhof, and Loren Barnes represented the Advisory Task Force and presented to the Fennville School Board. They reviewed the process the task force undertook and presented the group’s recommendation.

VIEW THE TASK FORCE PRESENTATION TO THE BOARD

SitelogIQ reviewed the findings from the community-wide survey, observations from the District Leadership Team, and went over next steps.

VIEW THE SURVEY RESULTS PRESENTATION TO THE BOARD