School Consolidation Plan Remains Unconvincing

A review of the recent information released by Webster County Superintendent Martha Dean provides more information about her consolidation plan, but still fails to address several issues, including at least one key financial issue.

In the "School Closure and Reorganization Documentation" required to be released by State Board of Education policies, the report states that closing the Diana Elementary School will save the County Board of Education an average of $694,011.00 per year. The question yet to be answered is how much of a deficit is the Board currently operating under that requires that amount of savings. 

The documentation also fails to answer whether all other cost cutting steps have been taken short of closing the Diana school.  The Commentator does not doubt that the Board is in a financial pinch; we, along with other concerned citizens, just want to see the financial numbers that prove that, if at all.

As justification for the Diana closure, the Superintendent's documentation states:  "The number of students per se is not the controlling factor in recommending closure. It is the fact that students are, for the most part, served in classrooms with two grade levels and one teacher, which is not a desirable configuration, and Webster Springs Elementary School, which has adequate space to accommodate the students from [Diana], is only located 9 miles away."

Again, the justification presented does not appear to be financially based if the Superintendent believes that the current setup at Diana is somehow detrimental to the students. Where are the facts about test scores and how well the Diana students are performing?  If the undesirable "configuration" is the main justification for closing the Diana school, then the Superintendent should be required to show with facts how the students have been negatively impacted by that "configuration."  Without citing any facts to support the following statement, the documentation states that closing Diana "will enable the provision of a better educational program ... without the expenses of teachers to teach very small classes in some schools and other schools to have to have over-crowded classrooms."

The documentation also addresses the ability of the Webster Springs Elementary School (WSES) to absorb the additional Diana students.  Closing Diana will required 2 additional teaches and 1 additional aide, but the number of additional students is well within the space capacity of the WSES.  The report also notes the impact will be lessened considering that the Board should give Diana students from Jumbo and Sugar Creek the option to attend the Hacker Valley Elementary School.

As to the consolidation plan's suggestion that all 7th and 8th grade students (except those from Hacker Valley) should be transferred to the high school also raises several unanswered questions.  The main justification for this part of the plan is "curriculum enrichment," which is the provision of a variety of subjects to all 7th and 8th grade students in one place that is not currently available to such students at the other schools.

Again, where are the studies that show that the affected 7th and 8th grade students have been negatively affected by the alleged current lack of curriculum enrichment? And what impact will these 7th and 8th graders have when placed with the older high school students? Even the Superintendent apparently realizes that having the younger students at the high school is not entirely desirable; otherwise, why would she suggest having a separate, isolated wing at the high school for those younger students?

After the release of several documents by the Superintendent at the past two Board meetings, the proponents of the consolidation plan have yet to convince a lot of folks that the plan is necessary either financially or for other reasons.