The Deptford Township School District is ready to take on 2022.
The district’s Spartan Improvement Plan will be in the spotlight this year. The $37.6 million plan, approved in January 2020, will improve educational and facility needs. The third phase of the plan will include additions to Deptford Middle School, security upgrades, and science lab renovations for the middle school and Deptford High.
“Our middle-school administrative staff is looking forward to occupying their new spaces in January, and we’re very excited for our current fifth and sixth graders to be moving over in September, when the new classrooms are ready,” said Sal Randazzo, coordinator of communications for the district.
Other renovations will be made at the high school’s media center. The updates are necessary since the center is used by the Deptford Transitional Learning Academy, a special-education program that prepares students from 14 to 21 with the proper life and career skills they will need to graduate.
“This program has made great strides over the last few years, and our students and staff will enjoy a new and improved learning environment come fall 2022,” Randazzo noted.
Grants also were provided to the district by the federal American Rescue Plan and the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act. Randazzo emphasized that those funds will be used to replace current HVAC unit ventilators with updated models.
“This will be a welcome boon to student and staff physical well-being,” he said.
As for COVID safety, the district will maintain protocols such as the mask mandate in buildings, contact tracing and required quarantine for those who test
positive for the virus. The district will also continue to follow state and county guidelines.
Randazzo is optimistic about a new year with facility improvements and safety precautions in store.
“We are hopeful that 2022 will bring more positives for our community,” he said.
