PROGRESS: Investing in our children: Vigo County School Board votes to move forward with sweeping facility plan

Four elementary schools would close, and several schools would be repurposed.

In developing the plan, the board has had to factor in declining enrollment, fewer anticipated property tax dollars and state funding that is not keeping up with inflation.

The changes, including a new high school, also are critical for economic development and population growth in the community, officials say.

Superintendent Chris Himsel said the district and board want to increase opportunities for students, reduce the impact on teacher candidate shortages and increase the ability of the district to live within its means.

Updated facilities will also help attract business and industry to move here and families to locate here, business representatives say.

"I think the most essential thing is to make sure our kids are ready for the future, and getting kids ready for the future is about constantly evolving with all the changing technologies and all the different things happening in the world," Himsel said in late July.

What was viewed as being ready for adulthood when Himsel was in high school "is vastly different from what it is today. There are so many things we take for granted today that hadn't even been invented when I was in high school," he said.

The idea is that the more things kids are involved in, the more experiences they have, the better prepared they are for adulthood, he said.

"We know that we lack providing opportunities compared to other districts, in part because we're spending a lot of time trying to maintain smaller schools," he said. "In smaller schools, you don't have enough students or a cadre of students interested in a topic to provide those extra opportunities."

By consolidating resources, VCSC hopes to increase the number of robotics teams and clubs or interest-based things students can get involved in. It hopes to increase opportunities in music, art or athletics.

That involvement helps students learn skills "that enhance what we do in the classroom," Himsel said.

As far as economic development impact, the quality of schools, and facilities, is a factor when business/industry — as well as families — choose to locate to a community.

"Research is very clear. People factor in schools when they choose their home and there are some families with lots of choices" and job offers in multiple locations, he said.

If they have children — schools, their condition, and the opportunities available for students — will make a difference in that decision-making, he said.

Likewise, business/industry wanting to locate a facility somewhere typically has more than one option, and schools will be a factor that they also consider, as it will be a factor in retaining employees, Himsel said.

Community leaders, including Terre Haute Mayor Brandon Sakbun, reinforced the importance of the new facility plan.

The facility plan "is an absolute must," Sakbun said. The school system is built for more than 20,000 students and currently has fewer than 13,000, he said.

The proposed plan increases opportunities for students, right sizes facilities and also re-purposes buildings. "The data is obvious — communities that invest in their children reap long-term benefits like population growth and increased economic development," Sakbun said.

The Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce has also expressed strong support for the plan.

"The strength of our local schools has consistently been identified as one of the key factors in our ability to attract and retain top-tier talent and jobs," said Kristin Craig, Chamber president/CEO.

"Although the Vigo County School Corp. has great students, teachers and staff, the condition of its facilities is severely outdated and no longer supports the level of education our community deserves," she said. "While we are making strides in finding economic growth opportunities for our community, without a high-performing, modern school district, our economic momentum will stall, regardless of other investments."

The School Board and the leadership team of the VCSC have put forth a strategic, long-term strategy that takes into account the needs of the school corporation, but also the entire community, Craig stated.

According to the facility plan, Terre Haute North and South high schools would be consolidated into one new high school, while West Vigo High School would remain as a modernized, renovated smaller high school.

Four elementary schools would close: Davis Park, Hoosier Prairie, Ouabache and Rio Grande.

Other schools would be repurposed.

In June, the school board voted to move forward with next steps as far as architectural, legal and financing components. No project costs were presented in June.

“This is not the end of the process. This is the beginning of the process,” Himsel said at that time. “We still have much work to do.”

Implementing the plan is expected to take several years to complete, he said. The goal is that when fully implemented, “Every school that will continue to be used will have been renovated and will have been modernized.”

Other plan components are as follows:

At the middle school level:

• The current North High School would be repurposed into a middle school, grades 6-8;

• The current South High School would be repurposed into a middle school, grades 6-8;

• Sugar Creek Consolidated would be repurposed into a middle school, grades 5-8;

• Woodrow Wilson would be grades 6 through 8.

At the elementary school level, Benjamin Franklin would be K through 5; DeVaney, K-5; Fayette, K-4; Fuqua K-5; Lost Creek, K-5; Riley, K-5; and Terre Town, K-5.

Honey Creek Middle School would be repurposed into a K-5 elementary, as would Otter Creek Middle School and Sarah Scott Middle School.

• Farrington Grove Elementary would be repurposed into an alternative school.

• Dixie Bee Elementary would be repurposed into a career-technical education center; it is next to Ivy Tech Community College.

• There would be two early learning centers: the existing Deming Early Learning Center, and Sugar Grove Elementary would become an early learning center.

Among other points emphasized:

• The district cannot do this in one year.

• It is a working plan, or a “living plan,” that will continue to evolve over time. Many of these changes will happen over a three- to seven-year period.

• Changes will happen like a domino effect, one change needs to happen before the next and so on.

• It will be 2029-2030, at the earliest, for a new high school to be built.

The board voted to move forward with the following steps:

• The board approved a letter of intent with Gibraltar Design to develop more detailed plans for consideration as a part of the feasibility portion of the facility study;

• It voted to engage Ice Miller to advise the board on legal requirements related to bonding potential renovations and construction projects that may result from these more detailed plans;

• The board agreed to engage Baker Tilly in advising the board on financing options.

The district will also work with those professional entities to begin developing realistic timelines.

Himsel emphasizes two points:

• The plan allows for class size averages to remain the same. By optimizing the number of students in schools, class sizes should be more consistent throughout the district.

• In repurposing North and South to middle schools, Himsel says that North and South buildings would have to be renovated before they could be repurposed into middle schools, and those renovations would have to occur without students in them.

The renovation would include demolition of parts of the facilities, as well as modernization of plumbing, sewer, HVAC and restroom infrastructure.