Sean C. Morgan
The District 55 School Board voted 7-2 Monday night to close Crawfordsville School and transfer Crawfordsville students to Holley School next school year.
Voting against the closure were Chanz Keeney, who represents the Holley area, and David VanDerlip, who represents the Crawfordsville area. Voting to close the school were Leena Neuschwander, Billie Weber, Dale Keene, Chairman Jason Redick, Mike Reynolds, John Fassler and Jenny Daniels.
The board’s decision matched the recommendation of Supt. Larry Horton, who announced the findings of a study and his recommendation last month.
District staff will start making preparations, Horton said following the vote, so the transition is smooth for parents, students and staff.
Crawfordsville had an enrollment of 70, and Holley had 74 when Horton started his study.
Horton is estimating a savings of $170,000 from merging the two schools at a time when the School District is facing $1.5 million in reductions. This year, the district cut about $1.1 million.
“I don’t think there’s any way we’ll dig our way out of the hole we’re in, closing the pool and closing schools,” VanDerlip said. “I think we need to not only look at a salary freeze but also across-the-board cuts on all salaries. That includes administrators.”
The hard reality is the district needs to look at salaries to save money, he said. “In the board packet, I didn’t see any significant cuts in administration. We need to see teamwork here.”
The savings from the closure are minute compared to the big picture, Keeney said, and the district doesn’t even know what the big picture is going to be at this point.
“I’m not saying this decision doesn’t have to be made,” he said. “I just don’t want to put the cart before the horse right now.
“It’s more important to know where you’re going than get there quickly.” He suggested waiting a couple of months before making the decision.
Fassler said he would be open to postponing the decision until June 13, but something needs to be done.
“I’ve listened to a lot of people about what is best,” Fassler said. “My heart says don’t close a thing, and it breaks my heart because my head tells me to close a school.
Reynolds said he would also like to make the decision later in the year.
“I’d prefer to wait as long as we can to make this decision on these rural schools,” he said. “For me it’s a little too soon. I’d like to wait a couple, three months.”
Redick said he loves the rural schools and the closure issue is what prompted him to run for the board five years ago.
His son was attending Holley School, and the discussion and uncertainty about closing a rural school was taking its toll on him, Redick said. More than anything else, Redick just wanted to know what decision the district would make.
He told the board that it needed to decide the question Monday night and let the parents, students and staff members know what was going to happen as soon as possible.
“We have to do what’s best for kids across the district,” Redick said.
Crawfordsville Principal Elena Barton told the board she and her staff agree.
“We urge the board to make a decision so we can all start planning for the future,” Barton said.
The parents, staff and students have been through this all year long and don’t want to go through more of it next year, said Betty Miner, an assistant and parent at Holley. The uncertainty makes it difficult for the schools to raise funds when they don’t whether the school will be open net year.
The board started this process, she said, and it needed to finish it.
“It’s too late to change it now,” Miner said. “I don’t want to see either school close, but the money is not there. I can’t think of a better school to merge with than Crawfordsville.”
Keene noted that his wife works for Crawfordsville and said he would have preferred to close Holley and keep Crawfordsville, what he said was a safer school, open.
“I’d like not to see the school close, but one of them is going to be closed,” he said.
VanDerlip told the board he didn’t think the board should even be having the discussion. Nine kindergarten students are attending Oak Heights, and two other students were transferred to Oak Heights from Holley due to a large class size.
If those students attended the rural schools, they would have a combined enrollment of 156, which is above the trigger point, enrollment less than 150, for the study of the closure and board decision.
Keeney added that moving the Opportunity Room back into town from Holley also decreased the enrollment at Holley.
Daniels pointed out that those students were not enrolled at Holley.
“We’re really close to the numbers, and I realize that,” Keeney said. “I’m not saying it doesn’t need to be done, but other things need to come first.”
VanDerlip said combining the schools will have a negative impact on education, in contrast to Horton’s comments that the combined staff will continue to provide the same level of quality or better.
“The people going to Crawfordsville are being singled out,” VanDerlip said. “They’re being treated unfairly.”
Weber pointed out that Crawfordsville is just one of a number of local schools that have been closed over the years. Her son’s school, Long Street, was closed when he was in the fourth grade.
“It’s just a sign of the times, and you all have to face it,” she said.
“I don’t see where there’s a big issue out of this. Your children will adjust well if you adjust well.”