Sean C. Morgan
School District 55 Supt. Larry Horton Monday evening recommended that the School Board close Crawfordsville Elementary School at the end of the school year.
He delivered the recommendation with deep regrets, he said. “I know the closure of Crawfordsville Elementary will be a negative to the community of Crawfordsville. However, I truly believe that the merger will not be a negative to the education of Crawfordsville children.”
He also recommended that Crawfordsville students be transferred to Holley Elementary at the beginning of the 2011-12 school year.
Horton has been studying the question of whether to close Holley or Crawfordsville since the beginning of the school year. He presented his findings and recommendation to the board Monday night. the board will need to hold a public hearing prior to taking action. The hearing is scheduled at 6 p.m. in the Sweet Home High School auditorium.
“This is a very complex and emotionally charged issue,” Horton said. “Both Crawfordsville and Holley are excellent schools with excellent staffs. Both received state report card rankings of ‘Outstanding,’ the highest score possible.
“If our financial picture were not so depressed, I would recommend keeping both schools open. Both schools provide a very nurturing family atmosphere. Both schools are the hub of their respective communities.”
He is recommending closure of Crawfordsville for two reasons.
First, under board policy set in 2005, if combined enrollment at the schools is less than 150, the smaller school would be recommended for closure, he said.
The second reason is that finances now dictate combining the schools to economize operations, he said.
Crawfordsville has an enrollment of 70 students. Holley has an enrollment of 75 students.
“It also seems to make the most sense to close Crawfordsville because half of the current Crawfordsville students live closer to Holley than Crawfordsville.”
The enrollment for the two schools arguably could be more than the policy trigger number of 150.
If kindergarten were still held at Crawfordsville, the combined enrollment would be 154, and Crawfordsville would have an enrollment of 79, Horton said.
The nine Holley and Crawfordsville kindergarteners were sent to Oak Heights this year. Five of them are from Holley, and four are from Crawfordsville.
Two Holley students also were sent to Oak Heights because of the large size of Holley’s fifth- and sixth-grade blended classroom, which had 34 students at the time of the transfer.
If the board takes these adjustments into account and counts them into the Holley-Crawfordsville enrollment, Horton said he would still recommend closing Crawfordsville given projections of continued enrollment declines and the economic conditions facing the district.
“I believe it is best to look at this now as we prepare for yet another year of reduced funding,” Horton said. “I do not believe the issue can be put off another year.”
The district cut some $1.1 million this school year in the spring, and district officials are anticipating further revenue shortfalls next year along with an increase in retirement costs of $400,000.
“I don’t know where we’re going to find the money to operate next year,” Horton said. The governor is saying $5.4 billion for education in the next biennium, the same funding level as seven years ago.
This year, statewide funding was $5.7 billion.
That kind of shortfall will represent some $2 million to the Sweet Home School District, said Business Manager Kevin Strong. That includes the $400,000 in retirement cost increases.
“Really, a lot of this depends on the state of the economy and how quickly it rebounds,” Strong said. “We’re seeing glimmers of hope. Let’s hope those glimmers get much brighter.”
The district also faces negotiations with its teachers and support staff, Horton said.
“I’m not a miracle worker – I wish I were – I’m not,” Horton said. “It is unfortunate we are facing a statewide school funding crisis. School districts across the state are being forced to look for efficiencies. We are one of many rural and urban districts that are looking at school closures to help balance their budgets.”
By merging the schools at Holley, it will decrease transportation and utility costs, Horton said. Total savings from closing the school will be about $180,000.
This does not account for ongoing maintenance costs for the building, Horton said. He told the board he would get that information for next month’s public hearing.
The district is looking for tenants, Horton said, such as the Early Intervention Program, which is currently in Brownsville.
Among other reasons for closing Crawfordsville and keeping Holley open, Horton said, he believes that fire and medical services can reach Holley faster in an emergency.
“I believe the educational program will be improved by merging the two schools,” Horton said. “Otherwise I would not recommend this action. I see two outstanding schools merging into one outstanding school that will offer our students an even better education.”
The merger will help balance out class sizes, reducing the larger classes and the blended classes, Horton said. It also will allow Title I support at Holley, which is the only elementary school that does not have it already.
He also looked at alternatives, such as moving boundaries so more students attend Holley and Crawfordsville, Horton said. That would increase transportation costs. With a boundary change in 1998, today, students living less than a mile from Holley are required to travel six miles on a bus to attend Crawfordsville.
If children closer to Holley than to Crawfordsville were to attend Holley School, Crawfordsville would have an enrollment of 33, Horton said. With pre-1998 boundaries, it would not be possible to keep Crawfordsville open.
Horton said he received 99 responses to surveys from members of the community about the two schools, including 14 from Crawfordsville and 33 from Holley.
In the survey, 12 of the 14 Crawfordsville parents said they would send their children to Holley, while only 12 of the 39 said they would send their children to Crawfordsville.
Board members present at the meeting included Leena Neuschwander, Chanz Keeney, Dale Keene, Chairman Jason Redick, Mike Reynolds, David VanDerlip, John Fassler and Jenny Daniels. Billie Weber was absent.
In other business:
n Strong told the board why he approved a $17,500 expenditure for a fence at the high school.
Members of the board have fielded complaints and questions from the public about purchasing and installing fencing at a time when the school budget is so tight, jobs are on the line and sports programs are on the line.
“We’ve all heard, ‘Why did staff take four days off if we knew we were going to have a fence?’” Keeney said.
“It’s a tough decision, especially when money is an issue and jobs are on the line,” Strong told the board. “I hear that loud and clear. You have these decisions where you stay up late at night second-guessing. This is one of them.”
He approved a requisition last fall to help prevent vandalism, improve security and provide an opportunity to generate revenue by charging admission to high school softball and soccer games.
The fence around the south high school athletic fields was finished in December. It still allows foot traffic through gates.
The softball program has improved the junior varsity and varsity fields, with more than $40,000 in donated funds, time and materials in the past five years, according to Coach Steve Hummer.
At the same time, the fields have been subject to vandalism, including people driving onto the fields and, in one or two cases, the junior varsity infield.
Repairs have been handled by district staff, Strong said, so the cost of repairing vandalism is based on the time spent repairing it.
Police are limited in what they can do until the area is enclosed with signs near entrances saying, “No trespassing by unauthorized persons,” Strong said. If people have to walk by a sign, police can better deal with people who appear to be trespassing.
Charging for games could net $4,000 per year assuming 45 people attend 25 events per year at $4 per person, Strong said.
“With the bleak state budget outlook, I understand concerns regarding spending money on this project while we make cuts elsewhere,” Strong said. “I have the same concerns myself. However, I believe the district will likely end up spending more if we do not address the vandalism and security issues. Furthermore, I am hopeful that the revenue generation opportunities will allow the district to more than recover the cost of the project over time.”
The Oregon Jamboree management has expressed interest in helping pay for the cost of fence installation based on the savings realized from having to spend less each year on temporary fencing, Strongg said.
Strong also is president of the Sweet Home Economic Development Group Board of Directors. SHEDG owns and operates the Oregon Jamboree, a three-day country music and camping festival that uses substantial portions of School District property. Proceeds from the Jamboree are used for local economic development projects.
n The board selected members of the screening committee for the superintendent search.
The board chose to include specific administrators who were interested and flipped a coin to decide which of two elementary school principles would serve on the committee. Administrators serving on the committee include Student Services Director Elena Barton, Transportation Supt. L.D. Ellison, Maintenance Supt. Ron Andrews, High School Assistant Principal Keith Winslow, Hawthorne Principal Ryan Beck, Junior High Vice Principle Dave Goetz and Strong.
The board selected certified association president Lisa Canaday and classified association president Lisa Gourley. It also selected Lynn Stauffer, the superintendent’s executive assistant.
By drawing, the board selected one teacher, Kim Gillis, from eight interested and one classified employee, Kristin Adams, from six interested.
The board drew five names from among eight community members, including Shari Smith, Sherri Batchelor, Michelle Tow, Jennifer Maynard and Julie Murray.
Horton will retire from District 55 at the end of the school year.
n The board set a salary range for the new superintendent at $100,000 to $110,000 per year.
A sample of Oregon districts, 1,600 students to 2,900, pay their superintendents an average of $110,000 per year. The range of salaries among those districts was $93,000 to $120,000 per year.
Horton receives $93,765 per year plus a tax-sheltered annuity, which saves the district retirement costs. Combined, he receives about $102,000 per year.
n Horton told The New Era and board members following the meeting that he had accepted a position next year, 2011-12, as part-time interim superintendent with the Reedsport School District, which has an enrollment of about 600 students.
The position is for three days a week, he said, and he will continue to live in Sweet Home.