HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-06-09 New Tech High could take next step with City support
Office of the Mayor
NEWS RELEASE
March 6, 2009
10 a.m.
New Tech High could take next step with City support
Contact:
Mikki Dobski, Director of Communications & Special Projects, 235-5855 or 876-
1564, or Don Inks, Director of Community and Economic Development, 235-9371
As the South Bend Community School Corp. weighs a final decision about the proposed
New Tech High School, the city’s Redevelopment Commission will consider whether to
take steps, including $1.3 million in support, to keep the project moving forward.
Staff from the City’s Department of Community and Economic Development is
recommending that the Redevelopment Commission on Friday approve:
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$1.3 million in Tax Increment Financing dollars from the Airport Economic
Development Area for design and construction related to establishing a New Tech
High School in South Bend.
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The use of the funds for the Marycrest Building or another suitable site in the Airport
Economic Development Area (the latter subject to Redevelopment Commission
approval at a later date).
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An agreement authorizing the City’s Board of Public Works to carry out design and
construction for the project on the Commission’s behalf.
“By taking these actions, the Redevelopment Commission will be demonstrating its
support for the project, and allowing the project to proceed for the school year, subject to
the school board making a final decision,” said Don Inks, the City’s director of economic
development.
Mayor Stephen J. Luecke was part of a community delegation that in 2007 visited a
model New Tech High School site in California.
“This initiative will help our children develop the talents and skills that are needed for
success in both the academic and business world,” Luecke said. “With the unprecedented
opportunity presented to this community through the Midwest Institute for
Nanoelectronics Discovery, it is imperative that our children be prepared for emerging
high-tech and other opportunities. I support the proposed action by the Redevelopment
Commission to take the next step to allow planning to proceed with its very tight time
schedule.”
For more than a year, the school corporation has had a committee studying the feasibility
of a new tech high school in support of efforts to graduate students with knowledge and
st
skills needed for the 21 century.
New Tech High School is a technology-rich school design that uses project-based
learning with a rigorous curriculum, according to the SBCSC web site. The model
promotes improved teaching and curriculum by enhancing the connection between school
and real-work application.
The school corporation has received support in the planning from the New Tech
Foundation and the Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning at the University of
Indianapolis. The Chamber of Commerce of St. Joseph County also has agreed to work in
partnership with the schools on the effort.
Current plans are for the school to begin in August for students entering ninth grade, with
an additional class added each year. According to the school corporation, funding to
support the renovation is needed for remodeling work to begin on schedule to enable
completion of the facility by July in preparation for the first class.
TIF districts are a public-financing method designed to capture the increased property tax
value that results from economic growth because of public and private investment. This
growth generates new tax revenues, known as the increment, which finances
improvements in distressed or underdeveloped areas where economic growth would not
otherwise occur.
TIF revenues may not be used for operating expenses, such as salaries and benefits or
utility costs.
The Airport Economic Development Area, the largest TIF district in South Bend with
more than 60 percent of the overall TIF resources, was expanded in 2007 to include
LaSalle Square, the Marycrest-Hurwich area along Western Avenue and the Sample-
Ewing Development Area, home to the Studebaker Corridor and Ignition Park.
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