By Kayla Crance for buscovoice.com
CHURUBUSCO, Ind. (Nov. 25, 2009) – School officials stressed that a proposal for reconfiguring the school structure was not a done deal at a community meeting held Tuesday night, although a vote on the issue could come before the school board as early as Dec. 7.
It was the second such meeting regarding the reconfiguration and about about thirty people were in attendance, not including the administrators.
Steve Darnell, Smith-Green Schools Superintendent, began the meeting by introducing the proposal. Basically, the idea is to move the sixth graders to the elementary school.
Darnell stated that the program in place now is working for about 80 percent of the middle school students, but the other 20 percent seem to be falling through the cracks. After saying that 20 percent of the students who enter and leave the middle school are failing, a parent asked why we are focusing on the sixth grade and middle school when it should be addressed before the students even reach middle school.
Austin Couch, high school principal, then spoke on his reasons for being behind the plan. Couch believes that “artificial boundaries” have been placed on the students, that there are a lot of excuses, but not a lot of solutions as far as the school is concerned. He stated that there are two upstairs rooms in the high school that will no longer be ADA compatible so the high school will lose those classroom spaces.
Nicole Singer, elementary principal, explained a map given to those in attendance; the map showed what the elementary would look like after the reconfiguration. A room that is currently a computer lab would be transformed into another classroom for first graders. The sixth graders would be put in what used to be third grade classrooms; “this way they are off by themselves and somewhat isolated from the rest of the elementary school”, she said.
The high school study hall room would then be converted into computer labs for the elementary. In order for this to work, however, the choir room, band room, and possibly the auditorium would have to be soundproofed which the administrators stated could be done at “nominal cost.”
A parent suggested that altogether, this plan could cost about $100,000; that cost coming from converting the rooms and the hiring of an assistant principal for the elementary school.
John Davis, middle school principal, voiced his support for the plan and stated that he just does not have the time with the current setup to assist the 20 percent who are failing or that need help. The question was then raised as to why the school could not hire an assistant principal for the middle school to assist Davis.
“Why do we need to take such big steps, when we could take some baby steps first?” one parent asked.
Another asked if the administrators had considered any other options and how the teachers feel about reconfiguration. She stated that she has yet to speak to a teacher who is for the plan though the administrators stated otherwise.
Another question was whether or not the proposal would be ready by the first of the year for the school board to vote on; the concern being that there is not sufficient time to get the plan up and running should it be passed. The superintendent stated that the school board would be voting on whether or not to go forward with the restructuring as they do not want to waste the effort of coming up with the plan if it is not going to go through.
“This is not a done deal,” says Darnell, “We want what you want.”
At this point in time, there are no more meetings scheduled to discuss the proposal, but a vote on the configuration could be on the agenda for the school board meeting Dec. 7.
Story by Kayla Crance; Video, photos by Viv Sade
What do you think of the school’s reconfiguration plan? Email Kayla or Viv at editor@buscovoice.com or post your comments to this story below.
