Dear Lancaster Community:

As Lancaster School District Superintendent, I am proud of the growth, learning, and community building that took place in each of our 23 schools this year. We continue to build a vibrant learning community both inside and outside our classroom doors. The services we provide not only to our students, but also to our families and community, go a long way to improving the city of Lancaster. Schools play such an important role in developing our future citizenry and keeping Lancaster a great place to work and live. We need to continue to focus our resources on creating high quality education in local schools to support our children. It’s important that our schools remain connected with the greater Lancaster community. As a central part of our community, I wanted to reach out to you with an update.

As you all know, many of our schools were built more than 60 years ago, and some of our classrooms, science labs, and facilities have not been upgraded in more than 30 years. It’s time to upgrade and repair our schools, so they can serve our community well into the future.

Across our campuses there are more than 300 portable classrooms, many more than 25 years old. Every year, our maintenance department addresses structural damage and water leaks in our portable classrooms. It’s expensive to keep repairing these units. We need to replace decaying portables with modern, permanent classrooms. 

In order to address these needs, Lancaster School District is soliciting community feedback, including from parents, teachers, principals, staff, and members of the greater Lancaster community, about your priorities for the District’s schools.

Top priorities for our schools that we’ve heard so far include:

• Upgrading schools to meet health codes
• Improving student safety and campus security
• Providing facilities needed to support high quality instruction
• Repairing/replacing deteriorating roofs, plumbing, heating, ventilation, gas/sewer lines, electrical systems
• Removing asbestos and lead pipes
• Keeping technology up to date

We want to hear from as many community members as possible. Please participate online by filling out our Community Feedback Form or download the PDF form and email to superintendent@lancsd.org. You can also view our Community Presentation for more information.

Your input is invaluable to us – thank you! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact my office at (661) 948-4661.

Sincerely,

Dr. Paul Marietti
Superintendent of Schools