Change in direction

Mar 5, 2010 — Pharos-Tribune

Jennifer Tangeman

Mar. 5, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Southeastern schools superintendent John Bevan has been meeting with parents this week to tell them their students may be attending a different school than expected next year.

More than 150 parents gathered Wednesday at the first of two meetings to discuss re-aligning Galveston and Thompson elementary schools.

"The bottom line is, we do not have enough money to get through 2011 without changing something significant," Bevan told the crowd.

Bevan explained the corporation is experiencing a reduction in the general fund budget of about $759,000 for 2010. He said the cuts represent about 7.55 percent of the overall budget.

Starting next school year, grades one through three will all be housed in Thompson Elementary and grades four through six will all be housed in Galveston Elementary. Both of the schools will have kindergarten.

"We want our tinies to be as close to home as possible," the superintendent said.

Bevan explained that Galveston students in grades one through three will be shuttled to and from Thompson and Thompson students in grades four through six will be shuttled to and from Galveston.

The grade centers should help costs through the attrition of three teachers' positions. The change will also balance student-teacher ratios and make for more consistent curriculum for each grade, Bevan said.

"We really believe this will strengthen our academic programs," the superintendent said.

Parents in the crowd were concerned about school bus pick-up times, but Bevan assured students will not be leaving their homes any earlier. If needed, school start times will be altered he said.

One parent wondered what the added cost of shuttles would be. Bevan said worst-case scenario, adding the shuttles would cost $18,000, a price he said was insignificant compared to the amount the school corporation needs to cut from its budget.

Another parent asked if teachers will move buildings. Bevan explained administrators plan to meet with union representatives in the next two to three weeks to discuss which building teachers will be working in.

"We do not have all of the fine points figured out yet," he said. "We have been working for the past two months to get the big ideas, and now we will work to figure out those fine points.

"We've tried to make this a very transparent process. The thing I have to tell you is, it's a very fluid process."

The re-alignment is one change of many implemented to try to help corporation budget cuts in 2010 and 2011.

The superintendent explained to the crowd that through a past sale of bonds, the board has offered a significant incentive to encourage senior teachers who are seriously thinking about retirement to do so now. He emphasized that the corporation is not forcing out anyone who has given their life's career to the community.

"If they want to take this incentive package, fine, but if they don't, we will not pressure them," he said. "Every senior teacher that retires saves us laying off one and a half younger teachers."

A woman in the crowd suggested the district make cuts at the administrative level rather than the teachers.

"As a parent, I'd rather lose one administrator than two teachers," she said.

"Which administrator would you like it to be? Besides me," Bevan joked. "Our school corporation is not overstaffed."

Other changes include reducing the full-day kindergarten program by one teacher and one aide, eliminating freshman volleyball, basketball and cheerleading, reducing coaching staff for freshman football and junior high and varsity basketball and eliminating fifth- and sixth-grade traveling basketball.

Bevan told the crowd to expect things to get worse before they got better. He also said he was open-minded to any ideas about how to make other cuts.

"Pretty much what the state is saying is, 'Don't look for it to get better and plan accordingly,'" Bevan said. "We will seriously look at anything logical and reasonable. I'm not interested in the best of bizarre right now."

--Jennifer Tangeman is a reporter for the Pharos-Tribune. She can be reached at 574-732-5148 or jennifer.tangeman@pharostribune.com.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0347-42630314