August 8, 2022
Construction Projects: Duneland delays opening of Liberty & Westchester Campuses for 7th & 8th Grade Students until Fall 2024

At Monday night’s School Board meeting, Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Chip Pettit, announced that due to supply chain challenges causing construction delays at both the Liberty and Westchester campuses, the schools will not be ready to add 7^th & 8^th grade students in the Fall of 2023 as originally planned.  5th & 6th grade students will remain at both campuses while construction is completed with both schools to welcome 7th & 8th grade students in August 2024.  A recently adopted redistricting plan for some students in the Yost and Liberty areas will also be delayed one-year until the 2024-25 school year.

Chesterton Middle School, located between West Morgan Avenue and Porter Avenue in Chesterton, was previously the site of Chesterton High School from 1922-2000. As part of its long-term capital improvement plan to reduce operational costs, DSC is moving from nine school buildings to eight.  Plans call for DSC to continue housing district administrative offices, student programs in early childhood, virtual, and alternative education, a wellness clinic for corporation employees, and a 25-meter competition pool for competitive club and school programs on the east side of the current CMS site. Parts of the building west of the pool are not part of future plans and set to close when construction at the Liberty and Westchester campuses is completed.

In the Spring of 2021, the Duneland School Board approved district-wide long-term facility improvements that included a new Yost Elementary School in Porter, renovations and new construction at Liberty and Westchester Intermediate Schools, and renovations at Bailly, Brummitt, Jackson, and Liberty Elementary Schools.  Construction is already underway at Yost with work at the other elementary schools set to begin in Spring 2023.  Previously planned facility improvements for athletics and performing arts areas at Chesterton High School will not be part of this project due to rising construction costs.