Cliff Buchan
News Editor

Keith Dunham was adamant last week. If ISD 831 is serious about its finances and budget cuts, a detailed study of the pros and cons of a school closing deserves a hard look.

And sooner than later.

Dunham, a member of the school board, used last Thursdayís regular meeting to place the school closing topic in play. It comes as the board winds down 2004 and awaits action early next year to trim another $2 million from its general fund budget.

That action is necessary, the administration has said, to keep expenditures in line with the districtís frozen income stream. The district has received no new basic state aid in the past three years and did not go out for an excess levy for new operating funds this fall.

In light of the financial picture and what awaits the district, Dunham said it was imperative the district begin its study of a school closing now. There has been no decision by the school board on a school closing and such a move has only briefly reached the board level as a consequence should a planned levy request to voters next November be defeated.

Dunhamís move

With the district ready to begin the budget-cutting process for the 2005-2006 school year, Dunham brought the school closing item to the table with a new agenda item on Dec. 2.

Dunhamís initial request was to direct the administration to investigate the financial and human impact of a possible school closing in 2005 and report to the school board in January.

Dunham said the boardís budget picture and excess classroom space at the elementary level supported the need for the study. And the recent enrollment study done in the district revealed no clear sign that student growth is coming, he said.

Dunham agreed that such a move is ìnot an easy venture,î but said the study was needed to complete the districtís study of spending and to reflect an attitude the district is open to change.

ìIím saying letís investigate it to see if it is cost effective,î Dunham said during discussion. ìIt may cost us more to close a school. End of story.î

No school has been identified as a possible candidate for closing should that action become a reality.

Others reluctant

Although the board eventually agreed with a compromise plan to study the school closing issue, other board members were reluctant to accept Dunhamís initial proposal.

Karen Morehead was the most vocal opponent. She was successful in obtaining several amendments to Dunhamís initial motion that pushed the January time frame to an undetermined date next year and calling for the board to review the administrative report during an unspecified time next year.

Morehead said she was not ready to make a call on a school closing. She said the districtís financial position has improved and she was ìsurprisedî by Dunhamís push.

Such a study now might be taken as a threat in the eyes of some voters, Morehead said. She said the open classrooms are scattered across the district and such a study would certainly need more than a month for the administration to complete.

Board President Bill Bresin said ì2005 is not the year to do itî and said the public should be given the chance to approve the additional operating funds next November at the ballot box before the school board decides on a school closing.

Member Joe Grafft said he spoke to the school closing topic briefly earlier this year as the board passed on any ballot box attempt to raise additional operating funds this year.

As a member of the boundary change committee, Grafft said a school closing would have major impact on elementary and junior high boundaries and the study would take time.

ìIt takes almost a year,î Grafft said.

Member Rob Rapheal, who seconded Dunhamís initial motion to allow discussion and subsequent amendments, agreed the district has an expenditure-revenue problem, but pointed out a school closing would have an ìirreversible hitî to the school district.

Member Jody Krebs said the time factor was a problem for Dunhamís request.

Superintendent Lynn Steenblock said it was impractical to complete the study for the January board meeting, but agreed it could be done this winter as part of the boardís complete budget review.

Final form

A reluctant Dunham agreed to a pair of amendments to his initial motion and eventually agreed, with Raphealís consent, to withdraw the motions and start over.

The final motion by Dunham read: ìI move that the administration be instructed to prepare a complete financial and human impact report for the potential closing of a school. This report shall be presented to the board for review.î

Morehead seconded the motion.

Dunham, who felt strongly in moving the topic to the front of school district deliberation, said it was ìprudentî to evaluate the potential.

ìIt is a long process,î Dunham said.

His motion, however, only passed on a 5-2 vote.

Members Bresin, Rapheal, Krebs and Grafft joined Dunham, but members Dean Barr and Morehead were opposed, meaning Morehead voted against the motion that she strongly suggested and seconded.

Later, Dunham said he was pleased that four of his fellow board members agreed with the need for the study.

ìI wish there would have been a bigger sense of urgency,î Dunham said. That, he said, was ìtroublesome.î

Dunham, who has been on the board a year now, said the final decision was ìopen endedî but at least a start. He said the board has a fiduciary responsibility to study the topic. The board, he said, would be ìgrossly negligent to not evaluateî the school closing possibility.

And it needs to be done now, he said, before the possibility is floated as a consequence to an operating levy defeat by voters in ISD 831.

Morehead said later she did not like the way the matter was presented. She said she did not believe the district was at the point where the school closing would need to be addressed in 2005.

That decision, she said, should be reviewed only if the district is not successful in winning voter approval of additional operating levy dollars in November of 2005.

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