West Clark teachers question board's vote for separation

The decision to separate came Nov. 9, when the board voted unanimously for Silver Creek to secede from the district. The vote came just two days after voters in the district handedly turned down a proposed $95 million referendum. Since that vote, the board has learned it has two options: separation, or annexation of a part (or parts) of the district into a neighboring school corporation. Whichever path the board picks, it must present a plan to the state board of education that outlines, among other things, the educational benefit of the change.

Sarah Craft, president of the West Clark Teachers Association, surveyed teachers in the district and presented the results to the board during the April 13 meeting. 

According to Craft, she conducted the surveys to “to take the temperature” of the association.

So far, three surveys have been distributed. According to Craft, that’s because after the first survey teachers indicated they wanted more specific questions and, after a survey was done with more questions, teachers wanted to know how the answers broke down by campus.

“I think they were glad somebody asked what they thought. I think they were happy to have anybody say ‘How are you feeling about this?’” Craft said. "That’s what we kept hearing. Nobody has asked us and honestly I felt the same way. No one has really come to us and said 'how are you all feeling about it?' I think they were glad for the opportunity to have their voices heard.”

The results from the surveys offer a glimpse into how each campus is feeling about the process.

Of the 33 teachers from the Borden campus who responded (out of 46), nearly 91 percent said they want the board to reconsider and 70 percent said they want the district to stay together with three separate campuses and high schools.

The majority of Henryville campus teachers voted the same way (61 teachers out of 80 responded); 85 percent indicated they hoped they board would reconsider and 47 percent they didn’t care if the district consolidates or not, so long as it stays intact.

As for Silver Creek, the campus that employs the majority of teachers in the district, 61 percent want the board to reconsider, but at the same time, when asked how the board should proceed, 33 percent voted that separation is the only option and 31 percent indicated they thought Silver Creek should become its own district. Ninety out of Silver Creek's 161 teachers responded to the survey.

The majority at each campus also indicated they want the board to try for another referendum and that, in general, the community does not understand the needs of teachers, students and the corporation.

Teachers across the campuses are in agreement that on many questions, there are variants. The majority of teachers from the Henryville and Borden campuses said they do no believe the board listens to their concerns, while Silver Creek campus educators voted that they think some board members, but not all, listen.

Craft says that not all teachers responded (around 90 of the 290 in the district did not) but she recalculated the percentages and even if those who didn’t respond had voted opposite of the majority, the facts would not be different.

For Craft, a teacher at Borden Jr./Sr High School, the biggest concern she has is both the effect it would have on students and teachers and the cost.

“Every penny we are spending on this is money coming out of the general fund [and] could be spent on professional development, materials. That’s money we aren’t going to get back,” she said. “I’m thinking how many things could we be doing not pursuing this?”

Craft also said she presented the results from the survey to the board during executive session and the teachers at the board meeting following that session were “dissappointed” that the board did not discuss the results during the open meeting.

Board president Doug Coffman said the board did engage with Craft during executive session and asked questions about the data, but is unsure how that would have played out during open session.

“I think her concern is did we listen to the teachers? Do we care about their opinion? Certainly we care how they feel," he said. "I think teachers are nervous, they don’t know where we are going, they’re concerned about the future. All of their concerns are legitimate concerns I feel. Does that change the direction we are going as a board? I don’t know if it does or not.

"We are looking right now at divorce and we are going to pursue that until we find out that its a good option or its not. Teachers should be able to weigh in on that, so should the general public,” he said.

Coffman went on to explain that each step in the 12-step process is a milestone and at any point the board could change direction based on how it votes.

“The fact of the matter is I feel, as a board member and representative of the Silver Creek district, people at Silver Creek would still like to see us pursue this,” Coffman said.