Inviting input

Superintendent Jeremy Gulley has emphasized the importance of transparency and input when it comes to the process of forming a plan for the future of Jay Schools.

At the first of two scheduled public information and input sessions Thursday at West Jay Middle School, he shared some of what Jay School Board has heard already from its constituents and received a little bit more feedback. Three of the about 35 in attendance at the meeting expressed their thoughts on possible plans to reduce the school corporation’s footprint from the current nine buildings to six in the next five years.

“The goal that I think we have is planning for the future, particularly in our buildings, to see how we can use our schools more efficiently so we can keep the resources we have focused on great programs, student learning, quality staff,” Gulley said.

The three attendees who spoke Thursday — Angie Stephens, Patti Buchanan and Dunkirk Mayor Gene Ritter — had similar concerns. Those included increased distance of travel to school for children at younger ages, larger class sizes and a reduction of opportunities both in terms of educational and extracurricular programs. Ritter also spoke to the impact moving West Jay Middle School students to Jay County High School would have on his city.

“I think it’s way too much to ask for families to send their kids so far away at such a young age. It’s just a serious strain on communities,” he said. “Getting to attract people to those communities is going to be difficult, and it’s going to be more difficult for Dunkirk just in the same way.”

The public input sessions — the second will be at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 10 at East Jay Middle School — were scheduled after Gulley presented at the Sept. 18 school board meeting a pair of possible options to consolidate buildings in the face of declining enrollment.

One option would be configured as follows:

•A seventh through 12th grade facility at Jay County High School.

•Kindergarten through sixth grade facilities at Bloomfield and Redkey elementaries and the current West Jay Middle School building.

•A kindergarten through second grade facility at the current East Elementary building.

•A third through sixth grade facility at the current East Jay Middle School building.

•The closure of the Judge Haynes, Westlawn and General Shanks elementary buildings.

The other would be similar, but with sixth graders also shifted to JCHS.

Gulley noted Thursday that because of feedback received on more than 300 online surveys, the board will also consider a configuration that would include kindergarten through fifth/sixth grade facilities at East Elementary and East Jay.

“For those who say, ‘Minds are made up, this input is just for show,’ the fact is, you’re going to see changes because we are listening,” Gulley said. “And that’s an example of that.”

A vote on the future of the Judge Haynes building is slated for no later than December.

A decision on the future reconfiguration of the rest of the buildings would come no earlier than November 2018. If approved, those changes would be implemented for the 2020-21 or 2021-22 school year.

Buchanan offered up another configuration possibility, suggesting that two schools be kept on the west side of the county with a kindergarten through fourth grade facility at Redkey Elementary and a fifth through eighth grade facility at WJMS. Gulley said he will do the math on that option to see if the numbers would work out, and school board president Kristi Betts encouraged others to share any other potential solutions.

“If you have ideas … email us, because we have not made up our minds,” said Betts, noting that email addresses for all school board members are on the Jay Schools website — jayschools.k12.in.us. “This is planning. This is planning for your kids, for your schools. … We need your help. We need your input.”

Also online is a presentation of data that the administration has gathered about finances, enrollment and options, and a survey about the long-term building configuration possibilities.

Gulley noted that in addition to the online survey and public forums, two committees have been formed to give input. One is made up of the principal and a teacher from each school in the corporation, the other includes 13 members of the community.

Based on their input thus far, the board has already eliminated the possibility of consolidating middle schools at the East Jay building. Gulley said the group’s advice has also included that if middle schools are consolidated at JCHS they be configured in a way that allows for programs and experiences that are age appropriate for all students, that educating the community throughout the planning and decision-making process will be key and that accurate projections about enrollment are needed before any choices are made.

To that end, Gulley said the the board has brought in consultant Jerry McKibben, a demographer, to produce new projections for enrollment over the next 10 to 15 years. That process was last completed in 2007, when it was forecasted that Jay Schools would dip to 3,240 students by 2021. Enrollment has already dropped to 3,266, with the corporation’s numbers falling by an average of 49 students per year.

With state support dependent on enrollment at a rate of about $7,000 per student, the declines have put Jay Schools in a financial crunch. Its general fund cash balance that for years was about $3 million has been sliced about in half because of budget deficits over the last five years. Another deficit is projected for this year.

“By December, we’ll be at the lowest cash balance in the history of the district,” said Gulley, “which is why this conversation needs to happen.”

He provided a variety of other statistics, including that Jay Schools ranks the lowest among adjacent school districts in terms of cash on hand as compared to annual expenditures. But, he said, the possibilities that are being considered and the decisions that are being made must be about the students.

“You see numbers, you see slides, you see stats, you see data,” he said. “I see kids. I see programs. I see people, who have served them well. And I see communities that are more than just places on a map.

“We who are about this work, love this school corporation and truly want it to be successful, as it has been for years and years to come. It has to be a balance of heads and heart.”