Study skepticism

Skepticism and frustration greeted a school architectural study that could be the first step toward closing as many as three Jay County elementary schools.
John Rigsbee of CSO Architects, Indianapolis, and superintendent Tim Long walked through the results of the study Monday during an extended meeting of the Jay School Board in the library at Jay County High School.
While the purpose of the study was to reduce operational costs by achieving greater efficiency, many of the approximately 100 citizens on hand expressed concern about the impact on students, families, teachers and communities.
“You’re killing communities,” charged one woman.
“It’s a reality we’re living in,” responded Long.
CSO outlined four possible options for reducing operating expenses through greater consolidation. All four of those options would involve closing Pennville Elementary School, which has only 90 students and has been on the bubble for several years.
Pennville’s Joe Vinson challenged the thinking behind the study.
“It’s not a cost efficiency rating. It’s a profit and loss rating,” he said, arguing that the Pennville building is the most cost-effective in the corporation. “Personally I would want to send more kids to Pennville Elementary rather than close a school.”
But Pennville resident Rick Brown said the Pennville community has been in decline for several years and that it makes sense to focus on saving tax dollars rather than focusing on nostalgia or emotion.
“It’s time to get your heart off your sleeve,” said Brown.
Vinson acknowledged that Pennville has seen better days, but said, “I think something we’re ignoring is the community impact. … What happens if we take the school? You push (Pennville) off the cliff.”
Former JCHS principal Phil Ford also challenged the administration’s approach. “Has their been a room utilization study building by building?” he asked. Earlier in the board’s meeting, Ford asked, “Is our system so bad it needs to be blown up? … If we have to spend money to close buildings, does this make sense?”
Rigsbee said all of the school corporation’s buildings were rated on a scale of one to 10, with an eye toward capacity, current enrollment and building condition.
“To reduce annual operating costs, that was the focus of this study, pure and simple,” Rigsbee said.
Walking through the study building by building, he said, that while all are in very good shape, “Pennville has the biggest challenges.”
That led Vinson to question whether the Pennville building had been neglected, a point Long contested.
“With a rating of five, we didn’t do as much,” responded Vinson.
Some at Monday’s meeting questioned why the burden of consolidation and moving students would fall primarily on the west side of the county.
“The west side of the county always gets the short end of the stick,” said one woman.
But Long noted that enrollments at elementary schools in Portland and at Bloomfield have been relatively unchanged. The west side, he said, “is where we’ve lost the most students.”
The primary cost savings in all of the options outlined by CSO would come from reductions in the teaching staff.
“The teacher loss would be through attrition?” asked board member Kristi Betts.
“That would be the goal,” said Long.
Several parents on hand expressed concern about the length of time young students would spend on buses each day.
“We try to keep to an hour or less (each way),” said Long. “That’s our goal.”
He said he expects no major changes in bus routes if Pennville is closed.
Parents also expressed opposition to Long’s proposal to move eighth grade classes to a section of JCHS, though Long noted that the trend throughout the state is to consolidate more of the traditionally junior high grades at high schools.
Here’s an overview of the options outlined Monday:
•Option one would close Pennville Elementary School and move those students in kindergarten through fifth grade to Redkey Elementary School. That could be accomplished as early as September 2016 and would result in an anticipated annual savings of $300,000.
•Option two would add 12 classrooms at Jay County High School to accommodate eighth grade students who would be moved from West Jay and East Jay Middle Schools. It would also move sixth and seventh grade students from West Jay to East Jay Middle School and would move the current kindergarten through fifth grade students now attending Westlawn Elementary School into the West Jay Middle School building. The existing Westlawn building would be closed.
That could be accomplished, the study estimates, by September 2017. It would involve somewhere between $125,000 and $1.05 million in construction costs at the high school and would result in anticipated annual savings of $750,000 to $1 million.
•Option three would reconfigure East Elementary School to add two classrooms and construct eight new classrooms at General Shanks Elementary School, then would move kindergarten through fifth grade students now attending Judge Haynes Elementary School to Shanks and East. Judge Haynes Elementary School would then be closed.
The architects estimate that construction costs would range between $2,515,000 and $3,025,000, with most of that involved in adding classroom space at General Shanks. Estimated annual savings in operational expense would be $300,000. That could be accomplished by September 2018.
•Option four would add 12 classrooms at JCHS at a cost of $100,000 to $1 million, move eighth grade students from West Jay and East Jay to the high school building, move fifth grade students from all elementary schools to the middle schools, and construct an eight classroom addition to General Shanks Elementary School .
It would then close Westlawn, Pennville and Judge Haynes elementaries, and convert Bloomfield, Redkey, Shanks and East elementary schools into kindergarten through fourth grade facilities. The total construction estimate, when the JCHS and Shanks classrooms are combined, would be somewhere between $2.6 million and $4 million. The estimated annual savings would be $900,000, according to the study. Option four would be accomplished by September 2018.
A fifth option would be to have a referendum on whether to raise property taxes to bolster the general fund.
No action was taken by the board Monday.
Pennville’s Vinson repeated his request that there be a town hall type meeting in Pennville on the topic, a suggestion he first made last year.
“That’s certainly an option,” said Long.