Published: January 09, 2009 12:52 am         

Crowd turns out for school facility report

TERRE HAUTE — Chauncey Rose Middle School may need significant renovation, but parent Leah Myers is opposed to closing it.

She made those concerns known Thursday during a community forum conducted as part of a facilities planning process. About 100 people attended the forum in Terre Haute South Vigo High School.

“Chauncey Rose Middle School is a very vital part of our community,” she said.

As part of the facility planning process, a community task force has been reviewing various options that include renovations, school closings and redistricting.

One option (Option S) calls for closing three schools that have serious facility needs and are under-used: West Vigo Elementary, Chauncey Rose and Booker T. Washington High School. It also calls for relocating the administration building.

Myers doesn’t view closing Chauncey Rose as an option.

Even if it were to close, Otter Creek and Woodrow Wilson middle schools don’t appear to have the capacity to absorb its 450 students, she said.

Myers fears larger class sizes and fewer extracurricular opportunities for redistricted Chauncey Rose students. Her daughter, Beth, is a sixth-grader at Chauncey Rose.

Also attending the forum was Sister Dorothy Rasche, who has concerns about the possible closing of West Vigo Elementary school.

“It’s a very poor area and those kids need every ounce of attention they can get,” she said after the forum. She works with Connecting Link, a social service organization in West Terre Haute.

Several West Vigo Elementary staff members also attended.

Based on an electronic survey, about 67 percent of those attending the forum worked for the school district; 18 percent were family members of students; and the remainder were other community members.

The task force is looking at two other options as well. Option A calls for “no renovations and redistrict only,” while Option Z calls for renovation of 17 buildings and no school closings.

Option S, which includes school closings, also calls for renovation of 13 schools with serious facility needs.

Option S would cost $185 million, while Option Z would cost $192 million.

Schmidt Associates is overseeing the facilities planning process, which will result in a 10-year facility plan for the school district. Debra Kunce, Schmidt program manager, emphasized that the options are considered starting points for discussion and none have been approved.

The task force may not recommend any of the three, or it may recommend something in between. Ultimately, it is the School Board that will make any decision related to facilities.

The task force will meet again at 5 p.m. Monday in the administration building, and at least one additional meeting is planned, Kunce said. Its job is to consider the school district’s facility needs, the community’s will, and where the two come together, she said.

One member of the audience asked if there was any consideration to building another high school, particularly with the higher numbers at Terre Haute North and South. Kunce suggested it would be difficult to justify construction of another high school, given the district’s declining enrollment.

After the meeting, Superintendent Dan Tanoos said it was an “excellent crowd” offering many good comments. Several of those attending have concerns related to some of the options, he said.

“We’ll wait to see what comes up in terms of the task force,” he said.

The bottom line is, some of the buildings have needs that must be addressed, Tanoos said.

Sue Loughlin can be reached at (812) 231-4235 or sue.loughlin@tribstar.com.