Hundreds attend NA-FC's meeting on proposed school closures

Parents of Galena Elementary School students ask, 'Why us?'

By TARA HETTINGER Tara.Hettinger@newsandtribune.com

NEW ALBANY — With uniformed officers standing at each exit as well as next to the stage where all seven school board members sat, community members took their turn to have their three minutes of say on the $5.6 million in cuts the superintendent is proposing.

New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated School Corp. Superintendent Bruce Hibbard told the packed audience in New Albany High School’s auditorium Monday night about the changes the district has already made to save money, as well as his recommendations to save more, which includes closing Galena, Silver Street and Pine View elementary schools, as well as changing Children’s Academy of New Albany from being an early elementary school to a preschool.

This is all in an effort to save $6.6 million, following budget cuts from the state. However, Hibbard said via a memo posted on the district’s Web site that if all 57 proposed changes are approved, it will save $5.6 million.

“In addition to this proposed plan, our strategy for financial survival will include the consummation of all cash reserves and all available rainy-day funds. Combined, as a whole, these three actions [proposed reductions, consumption of cash reserves and depletion of rainy-day funds] will stabilize our financial condition for the near term; however, they alone will not solve the dimension of the problem,” Hibbard said in his memo.

“At some future point, additional cuts will be likely.”

EXPLAINING THE CUTS

Hibbard explained the reasoning behind the cuts, saying these will affect children and their education the least. Another option he said he considered but won’t recommend included laying off 62 teachers. He also said a local referendum to raise taxes likely would be voted down by the community. However, he said if the state continues to cut the district’s funding, that option may be the corporation’s “only hope.”

He also talked about the positives changes resulting from closing schools, saying that fifth-graders would be moved to the middle schools, which have enough room for those students. He said that move will eliminate split grade-level classes, as well as smaller class sizes in the elementary schools in most cases.

Hibbard said the four chosen schools were picked because of the capacity of the building, condition of the school and available acreage for future expansion. He added that Slate Run and Green Valley elementaries, which are set to stay open, each have more than 10 acres available.



SPEAKING OUT

Though Hibbard talked about the necessity behind the cuts and how these were the best ways to make them in the district, not everyone agreed.

“For the life of me, I can’t figure out why you have Galena, a Four Star School, why you would want to close it?” said Robert Hamilton, referring to the status achieved by the school from the Indiana Department of Education for 10 years now. “You’ve got all the pieces together and now you want to tear it apart.”

He had another idea of a way to save.

“Dr. Hibbard, have you made any concessions on reducing your salary?” he asked during his three minutes, pausing for an answer while the audience applauded.

“A response?” he asked again.

Hibbard remained quiet as the audience cheered for the final few seconds of Hamilton’s time.

“Remember, concerned parents are also concerned voters,” Hamilton ended his time saying, referring to the four school board seats that are up for election in May.

Vicky Nugent, who has a 2-year-old living in Silver Street’s district, told the board that they have been approving too many change orders with the various building projects as well as buying too much land around schools.

“I think there’s a lot of mismanagement of money and I think our children are taking the cut,” she said. “I don’t want to hear of any more land acquisitions ... When you tighten you belts, keep them tight ... We’ve lost enough.”

After speaking to the board, she told The Tribune that she has started a savings account to possibly pay for private school for her child, adding that the public school he would attend if Silver Street was closed has low ISTEP passage rates.

She’s not the only one looking outside of the district.

“We’re looking at our options, including private school and home school,” Jodi Lukinovich said prior to the meeting. “We’re going to have an open mind about the whole thing.”

Lukinovich, who lives in Galena’s district, said closing it will hurt the school corporation.

“It’s not just the building. It’s the parents, students and teachers all working together. Why not keep it open and use us as an example to others?” she asked. “If you break that up and spread it out, you won’t have the same success.”

Tammy Rudy said her concern is having fifth-graders in the middle schools.

“These kids are still babies in the fourth grade,” Rudy said, with her fourth-grade  son who attends Green Valley by her side. “I have an 18-year-old, so I know what goes on and that’s what worries me,” she said, adding that she already has started talking to her 10-year-old son about drugs to prepare him for what he may face.

“I just pray to God he grows up over the summer, because come the fall, he’s going to have a reality check.”

She said she feels the decision to approve all the recommendations has been made.

Many at the meeting agreed.

“I think it’s a done deal. I hope it’s not, but I think it is,” Rudy said.

“It looks like we’re getting a chance to give our input after a decision has already been made,” Irving Joshua told the board.



NOT ALL AGAINST

While people were speaking out against the proposed changes, Mark Kessans, teachers’ association president, stood in the back listening.

He said his job at Prosser School of Technology is slated to be eliminated. He said he had hoped to teach the same subject, power equipment, until he retired, but said he understood the move.

“I think the decisions [Hibbard] made affects students the least,” he said.

Kessans said he doesn’t support any cuts, but said that all those at the meeting were focused on the wrong people.

“The bottom line is $6.6 million has to be cut. The only people who could stop this from happening is the legislators,” he said. “Few, if any, people here will bother to contact the people who can really change this.”

WHAT’S NEXT

• The board will vote on whether to approve the recommendations at 7 p.m. Thursday in New Albany High School’s auditorium.

Text Only | Photo Reprints