Exeter-Milligan and Friend school
board members joined together in the Exeter gym for the fourth in a series of joint
public meetings presenting information on a possible consolidation of the two
districts.
All the information presented during
the meeting is available for public viewing on the websites for both districts.
After the meetings were officially
opened by respective board presidents, EM Superintendent Paul Sheffield and FPS
Superintendent Derek Anderson shared a power point presentation starting with
the history of consolidation discussion and co-oping between the two districts.
They also presented the fact that both
districts have seen a drastic decline in enrollment. It was noted that in 2002-2003 EM had an
enrollment of 321 and FPS was at 354.
Right now, the two districts together would be at 354. “We have seen a steady decline; 58% for EM
and 40% for Friend,” explained Sheffield.
Currently the proposal plans for the
Kindergarten to fifth grade to be educated in the Exeter building and sixth
through twelfth grades will be in Friend with the sixth through eighth grade
using the Friend elementary area. There would be preschool in both locations.
There was no discussion of any
additional construction to either site but Sheffield noted that it was his
recommendation to the board that the Exeter high school building be torn down.
“If we aren’t going to use the high school let’s tear it down. Let’s don’t let it become a tag factory or
nursing home.”
The EM district is also in the process
of transferring ownership of the Milligan school to the village of
Milligan. Along with the building the
district would transfer a finite amount of funds from the EM building fund to
be used to maintain the building.
On the Friend side of things, Anderson
talked about their indebtedness, “The constituents of Friend would continue to
pay for that. EM would not pay for
that. A new building fund will be
created for the consolidated district.”
The property valuation for the new
district would be at $1.2 billion dollars.
The proposal provides that the first
school board in the new district would be made up of six members, three from
the EM district and three from the Friend district. EM would have two elected
with four year terms and one with a two year term while Friend would have two
with two year terms and one with a four year term.
After that, there would be no
requirement that board members are from a certain district.
As they presented the advantages for
combining, Anderson talked of the collaboration of the teachers and the
additional academic offers.
There are no plans to remove any
teacher positions, only an administrative position, a superintendent would be
cut. EM’s Sheffield has made it clear he plans to retire.
The only questions that were answered
were those that had been submitted in advance. Notecards were provided to the
public if patrons had additional questions to submit.
The
meeting was opened for public comment and just three stepped up to the
microphone.
Allison
Petersen who along with husband, Robbie, opted their kids into the district
from Fillmore Central, expressed their support, “ (we) see
a significant benefit for our students if we consolidate. I believe there will
be a huge benefit and boost to the arts in our schools. I am also excited to
see more classroom and teacher collaboration. Our own children are looking
forward to joining with the Friend students in the classroom as they have
enjoyed being teammates with them in the sports coop. To be perfectly honest,
their biggest concern is school lunch.”
Taylor Kahlandt
emphasized the advantages to having a separate middle school and seeing a boost
for both academic and arts in the consolidation. She thanked the board for being pro-active.
Kelly Rischling also
thanked the board and addressed the concern of a parent about busing, as she
has three children who often choose to ride the bus over riding with mom to
Exeter from Milligan.
Both boards will meet for their regular
monthly meeting on March 18 and then both will vote on consolidation in their April
meeting. They noted that public comment
will be allowed at both meetings.
