Brandi Watters, The Herald Bulletin
brandi.watters@heraldbulletin.com
ANDERSON - Anderson school board members voted to close four schools Tuesday, bringing four months of deliberations to an end.
The Anderson Community School Corp. board members who voted in favor of closing the four schools were Tobi Jones, Philip Morgan, William Riffe and Teddy Bohnenkamp.
Board members Tim Long and Irma Hampton Stewart voted against the measure and Keith Millikan was absent from the meeting.
The school board's vote was in line with the recommendations of the Challenge 2010 Advisory Panel, which spent four months hosting community workshops to gauge public opinion regarding school closings.
ACS must slice $5 million from its budget by 2010 as a result of property tax caps and declining enrollment.
The panel's recommendations adopted by the board included keeping the 9-through-12 grade configuration at the high schools. An early option would have changed the high school to a 7-through-12 configuration.
The board vote regarding middle schools strayed slightly from the panel recommendations. Originally, panel members indicated that North Side Middle School should be closed, but included a note that South Side could be closed if board members deemed the facility unsuitable.
South Side is 11 years older than North Side.
The recommendations presented by the panel indicated that 45 teacher layoffs would have to occur to get the budget balanced but Superintendent Mikella Lowe said Tuesday that the district could only handle losing 25 teachers immediately without violating terms of the teacher contract regarding the pupil-to-teacher ratio.
Also included in the board vote was a measure that moved the district's central administration at the Wigwam Complex to one of the elementary schools set to close.
Programs hosted at Ebbertt will now be moved to the Wigwam Complex.
Before the vote, Stewart argued that the district should not close Ebbertt in order to save the historic Wigwam complex. "It makes little sense to me to dismantle a program with a utility cost of $174,000 and bring it into a Wigwam with a cost of $384,000."
Stewart argued that the cost to move programs from Ebbertt to the Wigwam could top $1.5 million in addition to the increased utility cost at the Wigwam, which could top $500,000 annually if the facility is as busy as Ebbertt.
Currently, the Wigwam houses the central administration offices and plays host to basketball games for Anderson High School.
Stewart argued that the cost to maintain the facility would increase if Ebbertt programs are transferred.
Stewart said saving the Wigwam, a sentimental favorite for many Anderson residents, was not worth the cost to education. "We cannot sacrifice the education of our children for the sake of pride. ... It cannot be saved on the backs of the next generation of kids."
Stewart called on those who'd fought against closing the Wigwam to find alternative ways to keep it open. "You need to get up and do something instead of sitting there and pretending this is the most important thing we have in this community."
Anderson High School graduate Roosevelt Smith agreed that the facility's sentimentality was not worth its cost. "Anderson will still be Anderson with or without the Wigwam. GM didn't define Anderson and neither will the Wigwam."
The board has indicated that Ivy Tech is interested in leasing Ebbertt but has not confirmed an agreement with the community college.
During the meeting, Ebbertt teacher Cindi Perry spoke out against two visits to Ebbertt by Ivy Tech officials in recent weeks, which she claimed indicated that a decision to lease Ebbertt had been made long before the board vote Tuesday evening.
Others were pleased with the board vote.
Sharon Webber's grandchild attends North Side Middle School, and will continue to do so now that it's been saved from the chopping block. "It's the better of the two schools."
Jones objected to the list of closings, but voted in favor of the measure. "We're looking at closing three buildings in the same neighborhood. That's a big hit for one neighborhood to take."
Stewart argued that the board should not accept the recommendations of the panel just because the community supported them. Stewart said she wanted to make adjustments to several aspects of the plan, including the closure of Ebbertt. "Our responsibility is not to carry out a wish list."
"I think what we're doing is foolishness," she said just before voting against the school closings.