Board of Education weighs five options for district
No decisions made on closures, consolidations
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Five options for possible district consolidation were presented to the Marietta community during a special meeting of the board of education Monday night in the high school auditorium.
They ranged from permanently closing Marietta Middle School to consolidating elementary schools.
Superintendent Will Hampton gave a presentation on the options, including pros and cons for each.
"This is the current reality," he said. "The levy failed. We have an excess capacity of 30 to 40 percent and we have unbalanced class sizes."
With declining enrollment, substantial costs to maintain the current facilities and limits to renovations for schools that are in the flood plain, "we know very clearly we need to change," Hampton said.
Any input on the choices shown during the meeting should be emailed to input@mariettacsdoh.org by Feb. 13, he noted. The community was not allowed to give comments at the meeting Monday night. About 150 people attended.
"The purpose of the meeting was to deliver the options to the community and allow them to digest the information," said Jona Hall, district director of curriculum and technology.
The first option Hampton discussed is to permanently close the middle school, move sixth graders to the elementary schools and move the seventh and eighth grade to the high school.
The second option is to move the eighth grade to the high school, have the middle school as fourth through seventh grade, and have kindergarten through third grade housed in two elementary buildings. There are currently four elementary buildings.
The third option is to move seventh and eighth grade to the high school, third to sixth grades to the middle school, and have kindergarten through second grades in two elementary buildings.
The fourth option is to have seventh and eighth grades at the high school, kindergarten through second grades in two elementary buildings, third through sixth grades in two elementary buildings, and the middle school would be closed.
The fifth option would give the school board a year to plan any closings or consolidations.
"It allows community input and the use of new communication tools," Hampton said.
He noted there no scenarios that the high school was not in play.
Doug Mallett, president of the board of education, said the district had approximately $300,000 in deficit spending last year.
"The time for action is upon us," he said. "I'd like to see the numbers on each option."
Frank Antill, district treasurer, said the school district received an extra $600,000 in student wellness funds. The district has received $8.9 million from the state since 2015, even though costs are rising on aging buildings. The wellness funds aren't guaranteed funds every year.
"Without that $600,000, we would have a deficit of $900,000. We're spending more than we're bringing in," he said.
He added the $2.75 million emergency levy that was renewed in 2015 will be up for renewal again, but the money doesn't have anything to do with closings or consolidations.
"The emergency levy is for day-to-day operations of the district," he explained.
The options presented Monday night would primarily save the district money.
The first option would give the least cost savings financially, while options two through four would be similar in savings. Having kindergarten through third grade consolidated would give the most savings, Antill said.
Hampton noted 80 percent of the district's budget goes to salary and benefits. By grade bonding, it would make it possible to use fewer people to do the same job.
"Being together, we're just more efficient," he added.
Hall explained grade bonding is consolidating all students of a grade together in one school.
"It's taking all kindergartners under one roof," she said. "And all first graders under one roof."
Russ Garrison, board vice president, recommended the board create a committee to discuss long-term facility planning, and to "systematically work through problem solving." He said the first step is to get the input from the community, the board and staff. He recommended the board consist of members of the current board of education.
"We still have to figure out the short-term while working on the long-term," he explained.
After the meeting, a few attendees expressed their displeasure at not being able to speak to the board about their concerns.
Marietta resident David Brown spoke with Hall after the meeting about the committee Garrison proposed.
"The school board is going to have a committee of all board members?" he asked.
Marcella Swaney of Marietta said the meeting wasn't exactly what she was expecting.
"I thought it was going to be more community input, but you never know what you're going to get with a meeting like this," she said. "It was more of a board meeting."