Fremont Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Brenda Wilbering, second from left, addresses the crowd Friday morning during the ribbon cutting for Deer Pointe Elementary School. From left are Fremont Mayor Joey Spellerberg, Fremont Public Schools Superintendent Mark Shepard and Fremont Board of Education President Sandi Proskovec.
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Friday was a day Fremont Public Schools officials had been looking forward to for some time.
The Fremont Area Chamber of Commerce hosted ribbon cuttings for the three new elementary schools in the district: Deer Pointe, Howard and Washington.
“It is just the culmination of a lot of hard work,” FPS Superintendent Mark Shepard said. “It is great for our community, our students and our staff. … The really neat thing about it is that it is truly the community’s schools.”
Shepard pointed to the 60-member citizen’s group that identified a plan for the 2021 successful $123 million bond campaign. It was co-chaired by Brett and Heidi Richmond and Chuck and Caryl Johannsen.
“They were great co-chairs. They led that effort and in the end the taxpayers came alongside us and supported it,” he said, noting there was a 65% approval on the vote.
Shepard also praised Sampson Construction for connecting with local contractors to do work on the various projects.
The new elementary schools are just part of the district’s construction plan, including the Career and Technical Education Center at the high school as well as improvements at Milliken Park, Linden and other schools.
“We’ve touched every quadrant of the city. We’ve touched every level of Fremont Public Schools – just about every building in FPS with this bond issue,” Shepard said. “It is a great time to be in Fremont and it is good to see all the development happening here.”
Fremont Mayor Joey Spellerberg agrees.
“It is a really big day with three new elementary schools,” he said. “I just want to thank the community for their support of our schools and the taxpayers for their support of the bond issue. This is an investment into our kids and our future leaders in the community.”
Spellerberg said that commitment is also a testament to the growth of Fremont.
“This is just part of that Fremont story of where we are headed,” the mayor said. “There are so many people that have helped us get to this point, but it is an exciting day for sure.”
