Elk County made the Channel 12 news tonight...

[Catwoman]

They were talking about the closing of Moline and Severy schools...Anyone else catch it?

[Jo McDonald]

Yes --- we did  !!!!!  Personally, I think the board  has had a knee jerk reaction ----- can't they see beyond the next week?  Why in the world they think "buying" the modular class rooms - when there is not enough money to maintain what we already have - then having the upkeep on the modulars  for how long?  Good grief---sounds to me like they don't have their priorities in order. Has the board members ever heard the age old adage "Make do or do without"?   There needs to be a "re-thinking" process here, it seems to me.

[sixdogsmom]

The video is available on KWCH.com if anybody cares to watch. It seems to me that Mr. Reece plays fast and loose with his numbers or anything else to get what the Howard element (hearafter known as 'The In Crowd') wants. At a meeting here in Moline before the bond election, he said that the district has $650,000.00 in reserve and that it would take all of that to install modulars. He also stated that the highschool building is leaking and that they have to set out buckets when it rains. Sorry, I really wonder how spending a great deal of money on portables will save money when we have two campuses that are viable. If we need to close one or the other, do so. Mr. Reese also stated he didn't want to do that because he didn't want to make parents from either Severy or Moline unhappy. Well, guess what! They're unhappy alright, both sets of them including a sizable amount from the Howard area that want their little kiddies to go to school in a real building. If the campus at Moline or Severy is not large enough for all the gradeschool children, supplement with a couple of portables so that they will be able to accomodate until the population issue stabilizes somewhat.

I would also be interested in how much district 282 money was spent in the pursuit of the bond issue? How many classroom minutes were spent on the issue, and how many employee hours were spent in the pursuit of the issue?

[Marcia Moore]

     I agree with both of you, Jo and sixdogsmom.  Rather than bringing in modular buildings and shutting down both the Moline and Severy campuses, why not keep one or the other?  They are already paid for.  Why spend money unnecessarily on modulars with "hopes" the state might pay the district back someday?  Times are tough now for everyone.  We do not need our taxes raised.  Lets make do with what we already have.  I realize that sooner or later both Moline and Severy will lose their schools.  But if we could just wait it out a little bit - two or three years or so - maybe with the dwindling enrollment the current building at Howard will then hold all the students.  Sure there would need to be a lot of adjustments made to the current building, but at least the patrons would not be faced with a huge tax increase.  
   I do feel for the school board members right now and would not want to be in their position.  No matter what they do, they will not be able to please everyone.
   There are some flyers around Severy telling about a meeting tomorrow night, Jan. 23rd, for everyone in the West Elk School District.  The meeting, which starts at 7:00 p.m., will be held at the new Severy Community Center.  Everyone is urged to attend.  The flyer reads, "Save an Elementary School."

    I just copied this of the KWCH website:
West Elk Schools Facing Consolidation -- By Kim Hynes
    To deal with budget cuts, one Kansas school district decides to close schools. The West Elk school district will consolidate its three buildings.  District leaders say the change is needed to handle dwindling funding and enrollment.  But resident in the town of Severy say consolidation is not the answer.
    The West Elk district consists of three towns, three schools and 361 students.  But the superintendent says it can no longer afford its set up.  "The reason we can't afford them is due to state budget cuts," said superintendent Corey Reese.  The school board recently voted to close the elementary schools in Severy and Moline. It will spend about $300,000 to build modular classrooms at the West Elk campus. "I see this as the only option to continue to maintain strong educational programs for our children," Reese said.
    Severy resident Eric Krug disagrees. "I don't see spending the money on modulars when we have a perfectly good school here in Severy," he said.  Krug says enrollment is already declining so why take away the centerpiece of town.  "If we don't have a school here, are people still going to live in our community?" he wondered.  He and other residents are working to put the issue to a public vote.  They're holding a meeting Saturday night to discuss hiring an attorney and raising money for a special election.
    The superintendent says pursuing an election is their choice but it doesn't change the fact they the district needs money.  He says consolidating to one campus will save $500,000 a year in operations and salaries.  He also says the state will eventually pay back the costs for constructing the modular classrooms. "I think this is the best we can do," Reese said.
    Krug says he understands times are tough, but that's why the district should utilize what it has before building more schools.

[Mom70x7]

I need some specifics, please.

In December, it was reported, "The budget cuts for 2009/2010 are currently $308,663.00."
That's before additional fund cuts were announced.
Payroll for January was $391,879.29.
So basically, we're already short funds nearly a month's employee salaries.

Where do you want the school board to come up with that money?
If the $650,000.00 in reserve is used, that's this year and next year taken care of, except the State of Kansas has already taken more money from the schools than was reported in December. I don't have those numbers.

I live in Howard, but had kids attend both Severy and Moline. They are good schools! Where are you going to get the money to run them?

[sixdogsmom]

I do hope that someone will report on here about the Severy meeting. I would be interested.

[MarkHall]

The main expense that will saved by consolidating is the cost of duplicate and triplicate staff, not the cost of the buildings themselves. I wish I had my copy of the last board meeting agenda (because now I'm guessing at numbers from memory), but the bills each month are less than 100k, and payroll is over 500k.

This means if you are going to cut enough to make up a projected $400,000 shortfall next year, you must consolidate the STAFF. Again, the problem is not the cost of the buildings, it's the cost of the STAFF.

It means reducing the number of employees at USD 282. That's the harsh reality that's being faced.

Close one school and leave the other open? Can't do it. Two problems....

#1 - Politically it's a nightmare. You alienate an entire community, they all leave the district because they're mad as hell that their school was closed and the OTHER school was left open.

#2 - You activate the '10 mile rule'. Everyone please listen to this. In Kansas we have what is called the '10 mile rule'. This means that if a student lives more than 10 miles from his assigned building (in district) he can petition the board to go out of district. The board MUST approve this request if patron is more than 10 miles from their school. Furthermore, the 'out of district' school will now legally be able to run BUSES from our communities to their community.

You'd then have either Eureka hauling kids out of Severy, or Longton hauling our kids out of Moline by the bus load. Literally. That would make the financial situation even more desperate, resulting in more cuts of staff.

The board had a terrible choice to make, and chose the option that was best for the students of USD 282.

It's a lot like going to your doctor, finding out you have cancer in your leg, and then having to have your leg amputated. Amputation is terrible, but much better than letting cancer destroy you.

We have declining enrollment and funding is going to be a huge problem. How are we going to hire and retain quality teachers without adequate funding?

I'm still waiting for someone to propose a viable solution for a $400k shortfall next year...

There is no other alternative. I know people are very upset. It's a terrible thing to lose your community school. I attend church in Severy, and I went to elementary in Moline. However, we've got to pull together in this decision.

[sixdogsmom]

I keep hearing duplication of services etc, that it is going to be cheaper in Howard. I do not believe that you can feed 361 students for the same amount that it costs to feed 121. I do not believe that it costs the same to teach 321 students as it does to teach 121. That it will be cheaper in Howard. Closing either Moline or Severy is going to invoke the ten mile rule for some students willy nilly. Having the gradeschool in Howard is not going to resolve that! Closing both schools for sure will be invoking the 10 mile rule on both ends. You bet! Politically this is a nightmare, one that need not have been had the communities involved been involved. Well, they were involved you say, but not until all had been cut dried and designed by The In Crowd. Mark, I spoke to Ms Farris the day after her interview with Mr. Reese. She told me that he said the schools would be closed and portables would be used should the bond issue fail. That it was a done deal. This is the same thing he told the Moline group. That it was a done deal. Not so, according to a school board member I spoke to at that time. This was long before the voting was done by the board. Something smells very bad, very bad indeed!

[pepelect]

Smells like some one is not seeing the big picture.  The face that Mr. Reece can see that the only viable option to combat a $400,000 cut in funding is one campus with or without the bond passing is only a testament to the fact that he is in touch financially with what is going on at all three buildings.  Providing a good option that is hard to swallow is far better than doing nothing and letting the problem get farther out of hand. 

Efficiency is the only thing that is going to keep the doors open.  We have to do more with less.  Our current three campus layout is not working.

A new approach might be to present a viable option instead of picking apart every presented plan.

[MarkHall]

I do not know all of the specifics on the 10 mile rule. I DO know that this was the reason given at the board meeting for not being able to close both rules.  Yes, there are students who live more than 10 miles from their school now, so there's apparently more to this rule. However, you can't expect parents to bus their kids from Moline to Severy, or vice versa.

It will cost more to feed more students, however you don't have to go from 3 cooks to 9.

You will eliminate redundant teaching positions and staff positions.  Cutting 10 teachers because you've combined would save about 400k. (As an extreme example).

Again, what are the other alternatives?