After promising the St. Joseph School community that it would preserve all three of the city’s high schools and move forward with other cost saving measures, the School District Board of Education has reversed on that commitment and is now, again, looking to close either Lafayette or Benton High School in accordance with two plans proposed by administrators in September.
The reversal comes after a board work session on Nov. 10 and follows a weeks-long process, which involved multiple public listening sessions held at high schools across the city, to find a cost-saving plan for a district facing low enrollment and a multi-million-dollar budget gap. The board voted on Oct. 27 to pursue “Plan E,” as in “everyone,” which was developed by Jeff Leake, a teacher in the district. It would not close any high schools.
At this week’s work session, administrators said the plan would only deliver around $608,000 in savings in the next fiscal year, and a possible $1.5 million in the 2027-28 fiscal year.
“We are trying to save approximately $4 million next year and $4 million in the 2027-28 school year, so we would be well short of these numbers,” said Director of Human Resources Mark Korell.
“Unfortunately, if we pursue Plan E or the status quo we are going to have to make some difficult decisions when it comes to our staffing,” he said.
Without facility closures, administrators say it will be impossible to cut enough positions to reduce costs, and with fewer facility closures fewer staff members will voluntarily retire or move on, they say.
Enthusiasm for Plan E faded quickly amongst board members at the Nov. 10 meeting.
“Plan E doesn’t work,” said Board Member Mike Moore. “It doesn’t work for our teachers; it doesn’t work for our finances; it doesn’t work for our classrooms and our students; it lowers our academic offerings. It doesn’t work.”
The meeting was held before a small audience at the Troester Media Center, a far cry from the hundreds of residents who appeared at listening sessions last month in high school auditoriums across the city.
Board Member Whitney Lanning says the substance of Plan E has not changed in that time.
“What’s changed is that we don’t have 250 people staring at us, she said. “It feels like we made a decision [that the public supported] and some of them stood up and clapped for us, and two weeks later, when they’re not in front of us, we’re like: ‘Oh, never mind.’”
Despite those optics, Lanning expressed a commitment to bite the bullet and move forward with a two-high-school plan before the end of November. It appears that a majority of board members will follow, but their credibility with both administrators and the public is fading. Superintendent Ashly McGinnis asked during the meeting if the current board has what it takes to select a plan and stick to it.
The answer remains to be seen, as the board will meet again on Nov. 12th to revisit a high school consolidation plan before of a possible vote at their Nov. 24 meeting.
