West Elk board proposes to close Severy and Moline schools

[MarkHall]

I was at the board meeting on Monday night...

Maybe someone there took notes; all from memory and may not be ENTIRELY ACCURATE.

Board is looking at a shortfall of about $400,000 next year due to declining enrollment and cuts due to the state's shortfall. The ONLY way to save that much money is to close both grade schools.

They do have some cash which they can use to purchase some 'modular' classrooms and setup at the WEHS campus.

There will be a LOT of shuffling around of classrooms and staff members. There will be some grade school kids in the HS building, and/or high school kids moved out into modulars (or both).  All of the 'who goes where' discussions will take place (I'm sure) AFTER the board officially moves to close both schools, which HAS NOT YET happened, and still is to be voted on. By law, they cannot close a school without first having a public hearing.

Regardless, they're in-between a very large rock and a hard place. There simply isn't enough money to keep all 3 campuses going. Things are going to be C-O-Z-Y at the high school for a few years, so keep the staff and students in your thoughts and prayers.

Let's just hope that the communities can pull together and use this as a temporary transition into an new facility. I'd hate to see a new 'Trailer Park' Alumni added to the list of other alumni organizations we have floating around. 

[mayflower]

Well said Mark.  You are so right about keeping West Elk and the Board in our prayers.  These are hard times for the District, and we all want to see them maintain the incredible students and treachers, and those amazing test scores; at the same time crunching a very tough budget.

[sixdogsmom]

We were at the High School tonight for the grade school  Christmas program. My mother and I got there in plenty of time to get a seat.. 20 minutes early.. Guess what..?
All the seats were full.. so we stood at the back of the auditorium .The people just kept coming in. Of course it was Severy and Moline combined.. It was so overflowed and crowded that lots of people had to stand out in the commissary.
Couldn't even squeeze another person in there so some parents had to stand in the other room and didn't get to see their children performing.. 

Once again... hope those who voted against our kids and our new school are extremely proud of themselves..

So explain to me what the crowded auditorium has to do with the vote on the new school? Both jr/senior and gradeschool programs were scheduled back to back on the same night. How would a new school have alleviated the crowded auditorium?

[Lookatmeknow!!]

Mark I love it!!  I graduated from West Elk the Trailer Park one!!!  LOL!!! JK!!  You do have good points!!  Thanks for the recap!

[Varmit]

That's just what I was thinking.  So what happens from here.  Is there enough room in the current building for the added students or is something else going to have to be done?

I would hope that the board thought of that before deciding on closing the schools. 

We were at the High School tonight for the grade school  Christmas program. My mother and I got there in plenty of time to get a seat.. 20 minutes early.. Guess what..?
All the seats were full.. so we stood at the back of the auditorium .The people just kept coming in. Of course it was Severy and Moline combined.. It was so overflowed and crowded that lots of people had to stand out in the commissary.
Couldn't even squeeze another person in there so some parents had to stand in the other room and didn't get to see their children performing.. 
Once again... hope those who voted against our kids and our new school are extremely proud of themselves..

I didn't attend the program but I was wondering why on earth both were scheduled for the same night?  Unless of course, it was out of spite for Howard losing their new school.  Also, how many in attendance were there to see their grandchildren/niece/nephews?  If it were just the parents would there have been enough seats? 

As far as being proud of themselves...they should be.  It seems that the major issue is declining enrollment.  Why build a new school when you're losing students? 
Those that voted against the new school were excrising their rights as citizens of elk county.  Instead of blaming them, why not lay the blame at the administrators and board members who mishandled and neglected the other schools and the budget?  They couldn't budget well enough to keep the other schools open and yet we were supposed to trust them 5.5million for a new school?

[Lookatmeknow!!]

It's not actually the board or higher ups mishap, it's the down fall from the state that is the problem with lacking budget.  Plus, if your going to blame board members and higher up, you better start with the ones that were on the board about 10 years ago!!  Because this is not a new problem, its been happening for the past 10 plus years.  Declining enrollement equals less money from the state.

As for the program being held together, it needed to be.  Many parents have kids in both schools, plus we are trying to unite the kids into one school.  How would you say that they do it??

Whether many of you want it or not, they are trying to get the kids to unite into one school.  They all end up in Howard together, so why be so divided???  That's how all the communities should be anyways.  Why not support this?

[Wilma]

What would you do?  You are in the prime of your life, at the peak of your earning power.  You own a big house, lots of rooms.  You have enough income to keep up with the expenses of owning a big house.  As the years go by, your income starts slipping.  You no longer can do all the repairs and pay the taxes and insurance.  Finally there is not enough income to keep the old house from falling down.  What would you do?

[lola330]

The program could have been in the gymnasium.  If there was still not enough room w/bleachers, then folding chairs could have been set up. I know all about the new floor but there are ways of covering the floor to protect it.  A stage and risers could also be set up in the gym.  Someone said the sound system might not be adequate, but if you've ever attended a grade school program in the past, you should be used to that!  It's about time the grade schools got together and did one program.  It makes sense.  Some people even have children in all 3 buildings.


It was a good idea, the program was wonderful, people--including all the children, worked very hard to make it a success.  Regardless of whether the schools close or stay open, I hope they continue to do the programs this way.

[kshillbillys]

We have 1 school here in Longton, preschool through senior years. Some of you should just bring your kids here. We held our Christmas program in the gym, preschool through 12th grade, all in one night, in one gym and plenty of room! I'm gonna have to agree with Varmint on this one and it does look a little suspicious on holding everyone's program on the same night, in a dinky little auditorium to "prove" to everyone that they were stupid for not voting for a new school that would alleviate the overcrowding....Do you all feel guilty or just pissed that there weren't enough seats?

[greatguns]

WHATEVER!