A change of plans with $109.2 million referendum at Greater Clark County Schools

Five elementary schools were originally planned for closure — including the hotly contested Maple and Spring Hill elementary schools in downtown Jeffersonville — but all except Thomas Jefferson Elementary in Jeffersonville were spared. Corden Porter was also taken off the plan for closure.

Andrew Melin, superintendent, said after 36 community and staff meetings across the district, taking input from the community factored into the final plan presented to the board Tuesday.

“We started with a plan, we had an idea based on all the information that we had,” Melin said. “But it was vital that we listen to the community. We took that input and that feedback and now I’m revising the recommendation, taking into full account that we were listening to the needs that we had in our community.”

The new plan will cost about $10 million less, putting the price tag at $109.2 million. River Valley, Parkview and Charlestown middle schools will see a $12 million, $10 million and $8 million renovation, respectively. Melin also said Wilson, Parkwood and Jonathan Jennings would get new schools on their current sites for $17 million each.

Also, Northaven Elementary would get a $10 million renovation project.

While Maple and Spring Hill are slated to stay open, they’re also not on the plan for any kind of upgrades. Melin said while those school will be saved, the district needs to devise a long-term plan to address the facilities issues at those schools.

April Miller, a parent in the neighborhood near Maple Elementary, said she didn’t necessarily oppose the plan that included Maple’s closure. She said while she’s glad to see the school remain open, she’s still concerned about the state of the facility and hopes a plan will come down the road for the school.

Her husband, Mike Miller, a member of Maple’s parent teacher organization, said he’s also impressed to see some of the changes. However, with the failure of the referendum for the New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated School Corp. in May, Miller said Greater Clark needed to take note what happened.

That district’s referendum would have ended in a lower tax rate, whereas Greater Clark’s referendum will impose a $.19 per $100 in assessed value on homeowners. It will cost taxpayers about $65 more on a home with an assessed value of $100,000.

Miller said the district needs to examine what happened with New Albany-Floyd County’s referendum, take notes and ensure the same doesn’t happen in Greater Clark.

“I’m not sure how much different this plan is than what they did in New Albany that did not pass,” Miller said. “We’ll all have to do some looking into and make some comparisons.”

The board unanimously approved the plan. Many cited the security issues at the open-concept schools — which have classrooms without floor-to-ceiling walls and in some cases, doors — that this plan would address.

Jerry White, board member, said with safety issues getting a lot of attention in this plan, he couldn’t go against it.

“In today’s world, with the way people are, we can’t have that,” White said. “I will not say no to that. I’ll say yes all the way to through to the end if I’m the last one saying yes. I’m behind this project, I hope we can talk to people and work out differences to the end to make a better system for our kids.”

With the measures passed to put the referendum on the ballot, Greater Clark administrators are now limited on how they can promote the measure. The referendum will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot.