VCSC’s decision on Meadows is short-sighted
I firmly believe that the decision to reallocate Meadows Elementary School was already made before January 10th. Yes, the VCSC School Board officially voted at the January 10 meeting, but that was just a rubber stamp of approval for the administration agenda. . Assuming that, under the direction of the Superintendent, an Elementary Reorganization/Consolidation Committee has been formed to recommend elementary schools for reassignment to follow the VCSC 2020-2025 Strategic Plan. That is, a plan that was developed in 2019 and approved in 2020 – before major changes to our community, including a casino, a convention center, and a global pandemic.
In my view, it is very myopic not to address how major changes in our community might necessitate modifications to such a governance regime. In any event, the Consolidation Committee conducted its business behind closed doors and did not keep any meeting minutes. The mere fact of these actions leads to a sense of distrust, especially when the questions we have asked have not been given a legitimate answer.
Meadows Primary School teachers and staff were informed by Dr Haworth of the recommendation to reallocate Meadows Primary School on November 29, 2021. Parents of children from Meadows Primary School have been advised of this recommendation via an article in the Tribune-Star on November 29, 2021. 29, not a general call from the VCSC. The recommendation to reorient Meadows Elementary School was presented by Dr. Fenton to the board on December 1. To help answer questions from elementary school teachers who would absorb students when Meadows Elementary School closed, Dr. Haworth and Dr. Fenton visited Lost Creek Elementary School Dec. 14 and Ben Franklin on December 16, before a vote on the recommendation. This is still a committee recommendation at this point, nothing is official until the board votes. To the right?
On December 14, I received a copy of the consolidation district map, showing where Meadows Elementary students would be distributed. Again, school closure is still a committee recommendation at this point, nothing is official until the board votes. To the right?
To say that I am incredibly disappointed in the lack of integrity of five of our VCSC school board members is an understatement. We asked questions and expressed factual, logical and financial concerns. We never received valid answers to fully address our concerns. When we asked about the net financial savings from closing the first two elementary schools, we were provided with salary savings due to job cuts, not a book balance showing operational savings.
Also, what are the anticipated financial savings from the repurposing of Meadows Elementary School? I don’t know because we weren’t aware of this information. The board members claimed that they have conveyed our questions and concerns to the administration to reach a resolution on these matters. If so, why have community members who requested this information never received a response? I would call it a lack of transparency and accountability.
Distrust of the VCSC appears to be widespread. Here are some comments on the Tribune-Star article that published the results of the vote:
• “No surprise. It’s never about the kids.
• “Not at all surprised, they had already decided that as they did with the other two schools. When is everyone going to realize that they are just submitting this to us to express our opinions. they don’t care what we have to say or our children. It all depends on what they want and how much money they can make. Our children and we are never a thought in their minds.
• “Once again, the school corporation listened to the community, then did the exact opposite of what the community wanted.”
—Jennifer Mueller, Terre Haute
The board needs to ask tough questions
As a preface, I would like to share the last two objectives of the VCSC Board’s operational objectives: 4. Maintain effective communication with the public, the Board serves and with staff and students to maintain awareness of attitudes, opinions, desires, and ideas. 5. Conduct board business openly, seeking and encouraging broad participation in board decision-making processes by the public, students, and staff.
I think the public at large, but our board members in particular, need to remember these two things as we talk about the closure of Meadows. The lack of transparency throughout the reorganization committee process is appalling.
As someone with over 20 years of accounting experience, I’m horrified that several requests for net savings from the closure of two schools last year have still not been submitted. The figures presented at the community meeting were not net savings. We were shown the number of salaries cut; and that point is moot, as the administration has already guaranteed every person in the Meadows the construction of a job with the company next year.
Dr. Haworth shared the revenue from the new Deming Early Learning Center, but when you look at the roughly $160,000 they brought in compared to the number of teachers currently working there, it seems like it would have been more profitable to have it. leave as a primary school. These are just rough guesses, as I don’t have full financial reports to review.
In case you didn’t know, net saving is saving after subtracting the depreciation of existing physical assets and is a key factor in determining long-term economic growth. I think as a school corporation that insists they are deficit spending, they would have a readily available balance sheet to track that information.
Requests for planned savings from the closure of Meadows Elementary were also met with silence. Administration costs are significantly lower in our building, well under $100,000 according to public records. Hired teachers stay with the number of students, so it’s a wash that gets them out of the building. Side note, yes, over 40 teachers have taken the retirement package offered by the school corporation, but that includes elementary, middle, and high school positions of all types, not just certified elementary.
With Dr. Haworth’s assurances to all Meadows faculty and staff that they will have employment within the school corporation upon the closure of Meadows and the repurposing of the building for use within the school corporation , I left to assume that there are no net savings but a clear agenda from this administration that the public was not supposed to be aware of.
Although the call for candidates for the reorganization committee has been made public, no input from the schools on the identity of our representative has been requested. Members of this committee were then sworn to secrecy so that our rep couldn’t come to a PTO meeting or sit down with another parent and say “hey, they discussed this or of that… what do you think”. Then this administration made sure that no formal minutes were kept, so that we never really know what was presented or discussed at these meetings. There is a clear protocol that must be followed by school administrations on how to handle these committee discussions and keeping minutes and making them available to the public is clearly stated.
Since all but one of our current board members were newly elected in the last two electoral terms for a very important reason, it would seem that they should pay closer attention to what the board is doing. ‘administration. This administration is making recommendations that will have long-lasting effects on our children, and they should dive deep into data and facts to make sure it’s the only option. Their job may not be easy, but they have been tasked with asking the tough questions and making sure the answers are provided.
I encourage the public to email our school board representatives and ask them to get the administration to sit down and openly consider other money-saving options; things like swapping, sustainability, realigning district lines, or, in the case of a potential high school referendum, finding ways to leverage construction and renovation cost containment.
— Angela Tanner, Terre Haute
What should taxpayers expect?
Accurate, impartial, objective and correct education at all levels is very, very important. Not easy to achieve, but totally necessary. School buildings that are consistently and properly maintained are functionally important for students and teachers. Not easy to achieve either, but totally and continuously necessary. What is considered accurate, unbiased, objective and correct educational content? This question needs to be answered by the true education leaders in our school system.
Now the apparent development of the two-year referendum program used by Superintendent Rob Haworth to acquire millions and millions of dollars to hundreds of millions of dollars for the VCSC from Vigo County taxpayers is developing loose purse strings. with school closures. What is happening?
If three new high schools were built today, a future superintendent and a school board would probably say that they weren’t good and that three new ones would have to be built, maybe 30 years from now.
Financial responsibility, building maintainability and accountability must all be a reality and seriously addressed. They must be an absolute necessity for all teachers, support staff and our current and future students who work and learn in buildings. So where do we go from here?
Millions and millions and millions of dollars spent on three high schools, with more school closures, increased virtual distance learning, and questionable future building maintenance. What should Vigo County taxpayers expect and demand from our school administration?
—Charles Bean, Terre Haute
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