For the past four years, Westerville South has been an active construction zone, and it does not appear to be coming to an end anytime soon.
The 2023-24 school year started with administration and guidance staff scattered throughout the building since their renovated spaces were not finished. According to Principal Michael Hinze, Westerville South is in the sixth phase of renovation which includes the administrative, attendance, and guidance offices.
The new attendance office will provide a secure entry point where staff can see who’s coming into the building and receive packages at a specified place. Hinze said the attendance office will also have a small sheltered covering for students and visitors waiting to be buzzed into the building.
Currently, the attendance office is not finished since the front entrance doors have not been installed as of yet; and before it is operational, time will be needed to move furniture and files into the new space.
This has created some problems for students and parents alike. Junior Madalynn Spann’s mother was unable to find the office when she had to drop money off to pay fees. “It was a struggle telling her how to get to the office since they had been relocated,” Spann said.
Currently administrative staff offices are distributed throughout the building. Principal Hinze’s office is in the upstairs blue wing next to history teacher Rich Schell. Hinze stated that he won’t be moving into his office until the construction is complete, and he has a working phone with everything up and running.
At the beginning of the school year, Assistant Principals Roderick Watson and Anthony Arrington could be found in the orange wing, and Juilie Wilson in the upstairs green wing.
This displacement was not a negative start for new Assistant Principal Watson. He said it impacted him in a positive way since he gets to connect with the students more since his office space is not finished. Watson gets to pop his head out and speak with students in the halls.
Now, some administrative staff are slowly moving back into their space. Assistant Principal Wilson and Arrington have officially moved into their new space.
The construction is still not complete; however, the administration and guidance offices are almost finished. The construction did not add any new features to the guidance office, but a new entrance for students and more conference rooms were added in the administrative area.
Arrington is happy with the change. “It feels good to be back in my space because it’s easier for students to locate me,” he said.
However, not everyone shares Arrington’s sentiments about moving back into their office. Counselors were able to move back into their space two weeks ago, but they have had trouble with phones ever since.
According to guidance counselor Justin Ferguson, the phones in the guidance office are not working so it makes it hard to contact people. “When they were off, the impact was pretty significant… you figure it out, you make it work, but it definitely slows down productivity during the work day/week,” he said.
Many students at South have felt that the scattered staff hasn’t really affected them as much as it has affected staff.
Student assistance coordinators are currently placed in the blue wing. Noelle Spriesterbach stated that the move has shifted students’ access to them. Christin Hammons said it’s been nice to pop out and say hi to students. Yet,according to both Hammons and Spriesterbach, not all students feel comfortable being in the space.
“It has been fun navigating when there are two students in the room,” said Hammons.
