Lockwood Superintendent Tobin Novasio released the following message and thank you to the voters of Lockwood school district.
Tobin Novasio
On behalf of the students, staff, and trustees of Lockwood Schools I want to thank the voters who on May 8thoverwhelmingly supported the bond to build Lockwood High School. This historic vote showed great confidence in our current school system and an amazing investment in the future of our community and it’s children. We thank you for your trust and commitment.
I also want to take this opportunity to thank the many different people and groups whom helped the high school become a reality over the past several years as we worked our way from crafting a legislative bill to now planning to break ground.
The Lockwood Education Committee led the way on this project; starting with members testifying to legislative committees and finishing by knocking on doors to get information into the hands of residents. Their commitment was the key to the passage of this bond. Special thanks go out to the group’s Chairman Chad Hanson and his wife Roxanne for their time. Additional thanks also go out to the Lockwood Parent Teacher Association for helping with these educational efforts. Collaborative Design Architects were a great partner to work with during the planning process, in particular Nick Pancheau with his knowledge of and commitment to the community of Lockwood. We are also indebted to all of the community members that took part in the preliminary planning and hope we can continue to count on your involvement moving forward.
Thank you to the legislators that led the charge to help us change the law prohibiting our community from deciding its’ own fate: former Sen. Taylor Brown, Sen. Duane Ankney, Sen. Tom Richmond, Rep. Sue Vinton, and all the legislators from across the state that were advocates for our cause. The Montana Rural Education Association (MREA) was also vital to getting this law changed, under both former Director Dave Puyear and current Director Dennis Parman. Special thanks to the other school districts we worked with to get the right to exercise local control: East Helena and Missoula Hellgate. Especially Chairman Scott Walters, Superintendent Ron Whitmoyer and Superintendent Doug Reisig for making numerous trips to the State Capital to testify.
Thanks also go out to the media for their coverage of this issue starting in 2013. Evelyn Pyburn’s coverage in the Yellowstone County News has been second to none and kudos go out to Matt Hoffman from the Billings Gazette for his deep dive into Montana school funding and the projected impacts of this change to both the Lockwood and Billings Schools. We also appreciate the KULR8 and Q2 news teams as well as the various Billings radio stations for allowing us to share our story through their broadcasts.
Personally, I want to thank all of the current and former trustees and staff at Lockwood Schools for building a top-flight reputation and earning the trust of our community over the years, this long track record of success is the foundation that Lockwood High School will be built upon.
Finally, I want to posthumously thank Don Reed for his unwavering commitment to Lockwood and our children. He was the one who brought me to the realization of how important a high school would be to our community and the future of our youth. I truly wish he had lived to see his dream become a reality.
Lockwood Pride: Legendary Education, Lasting Foundation, Limitless Future!
Tobin Novasio
Superintendent
Lockwood Schools