Major renovations scheduled for Milford High School

Times are always changing: trends, styles, courses; and within the next year MHS is planning an extreme school makeover. Huron Valley schools is making dramatic physical changes to the building,  including the classrooms, main entrance, main office, and the overall look of the school.

This summer, the main entrance is going to be revamped. Currently, the front entrance only has one layer of doors, but it is scheduled to have two.

“It’s coming from a safety and security piece, but they’re also trying to dress it up to say this is our main net,” Principal Kevin McKenna said when asked about the reasoning behind this update. The plan is to have this change done before the next school year so no loud construction will be going on during classes.

Deputy Dennis Gross’ office is going to be moved near the main entrance to allow easier access to the front of the school. His current office is located back by the counselors’ offices. . “He should be by people so they can see him; that’s the reason an officer is here. All these factors build up to keep us safer,” said McKenna.

The main office is also being renovated, which will be a bigger project. The attendance office is going to be combined with the main office. so there’s more open space, as well as updating the furniture and paint. This will create extra room for student services and a better conference room.

The summer is just the start of the changes, however; this project is going to go well into 2024, so this may affect certain parts of students’ school day. “When people think of construction, they automatically think like a sledgehammer going through a wall and bricks falling, right? For us, no students are going to be in the classrooms being worked on,” said Mckenna. Depending on the classrooms being worked on, teachers will move throughout the year to open classrooms so students can focus without distractions nearby.

The plan is already in action: the 600 hallway classrooms are the first rooms that are going to be renovated, so some teachers have been moved to empty classes to continue teaching in another room to end the year. Each classroom will receive new flooring, paint and furniture. Once the 600 hallway is renovated, those rooms will be available for other teachers, and an entire rotation will be in motion next year.

In May of 2023, the school is also trying to start working on new football bleachers, and the company has said they will be completed by September.

Change can sometimes be a lot to take in adjust to, but these changes in the school are all being made to make MHS a safer and more supportive environment. . “It’s a lot, but teachers shouldn’t be worried about that kind of stuff; I want them to just focus on teaching and learning,” said McKenna.

So how do students feel about this new change? “The renovations will definitely be beneficial for students, but it’s disappointing we do not get to experience them for long because it will be our senior year,” said Junior Kayla Hulswitt.

Students often find more things that can be adjusted within the school because they’re the ones walking into the school every day, sitting in the desks, and treading through the hallways. It can be difficult for staff to see these suggestions because they are not the ones learning.

Junior Mahlannie Phetmisy also added her opinion on the new additions and plans. “I like the new changes, and I think these are really cool, but there are still little things in our school that need to be changed before we fix some of the bigger issues. One being we need more school funding for some of our classes and clubs as well as support. More funding on our Unified Basketball team would be great! Overall I love the idea of new changes, I just wish that I could have enjoyed them for longer.”

The finance aspect could be a concern for all these new updates, but these changes are coming from a completely separate fund. In 2019, HVS developed a new plan for funding the renovations of the buildings.

For the high-school level upgrades, the price will cost over $92 million dollars, but the bond generates $182 million dollars plus an additional $23 million over 10 years. This plan also doesn’t increase the tax rate for the Huron Valley taxpayers.

Change is exciting, the elementary schools, like Heritage have already gotten remodeled including their entrance, gym, cafeteria and new technology. The new transformations give a more fresh environment and MHS wants to give off that feel too. In the next year, the building is hoping to strive towards being more polished and new.