Goshen Community Schools push for $17M renovation project

GOSHEN, Ind. -- In August, Goshen Community Schools cut seven bus routes because of a lack of funding. Now, the district is considering taking on a $17 million renovation project.  

$10 million would go towards a new swimming pool for Goshen High and Goshen Middle school students.  

ABC 57 talked with a parent who says she has struggled to get her kids to and from school this year, and the last thing on her mind is a new pool.

"I think transportation and education are important. I think a pool should take a back burner to be honest," said Phylicia Witham, mother of two elementary school age children.

Witham is one of many who say the cut in buses has made life more difficult for their families.

"I have to walk them to school and it takes me about 30 minutes just to walk over here myself, let alone with two little ones," Witham said.

Now the school district wants to spend millions on a swimming pool.

If the pool is put in at the high school, students will be bused from Goshen Middle to Goshen High School, about a mile and a half away.  

The only way to fund this project is for Goshen property owners to agree to pay a special tax over the next 20 years.

And while parents say they understand the importance of renovations and physical education, some wish the money could go to transportation.

The school district says that putting the millions of dollars towards buses is not an option because the district has already maxed out the amount of money it can legally tax property owners for school transportation.

This renovation project and new pool will be on the ballot in November for taxpayers to vote on.