Besides the addition and renovation projects under way, Warsaw School Board is now considering building two new elementary schools.

At Monday's meeting, Superintendent Dr. Dave McGuire proposed closing Atwood, Claypool, Jefferson and Silver Lake elementaries and building two new four-section schools.

A four-section school is one that has four classrooms for each grade.

"We are being drawn down by the small schools," McGuire said. "This has nothing to do with the quality of programs in those schools. It is simply an economic fact of life."

He compared Warsaw Community Schools to Wawasee schools, saying the Wawasee school district is two-thirds the size of Warsaw and has three elementary buildings compared to Warsaw's 10.

(According to the Indiana Department of Education's Web site, Wawasee has 3,521 students, compared to Warsaw's 6,375 students. Wawasee's elementaries are: Milford, 503 elementary students; North Webster, 576 students; and Syracuse, 566.)

McGuire proposed building one new school close to the northwest intersection of U.S. 30 and Ind. 15, north of Warsaw, and the other south of the current Jefferson Elementary. He said he has had discussions with Grace College to trade the Jefferson Elementary property for Grace-owned property, and has been looking at what is now Grace's practice soccer field.

However, no commitment has been made, he said.

The approximate cost of building two new elementaries would be $30 million, he said.

"The statement has been made repeatedly that we could build two elementaries and do the high school without raising taxes," McGuire said. "I guess it's an issue of what does the community want?"

He also said there is a danger of cutting more teachers and increasing class sizes if his proposal is not accepted.

"The other option is to do nothing. In that case, I would almost guarantee a teacher reduction," he said.

McGuire said a remonstrance could stop the building of the new schools, but that the smaller schools could be closed by a simple board vote.

A fall-back position if the board decides not to build two new buildings is to close Atwood, Claypool and Silver Lake elementaries, leave Jefferson Elementary open and change Edgewood and Lakeview middle schools to grades six through eight instead of the present grades seven and eight.

The fall-back position was supported by board member Ron Yeiter, who said Lakeview is being used now at 45 percent capacity, and moving sixth grade into the middle schools would free up approximately 22 classrooms.

"I'm emphasizing that we use what we have," he said.

He also said that even though the building projects would not incur a property tax increase, he thinks that people will misinterpret their tax bills this fall if they receive an increase due to reassessment.

WCS business manager Rande Thorpe disagreed.

"Most school districts actually anticipate a decrease of 15 to 18 percent in their property taxes," he said.

Gene England, board member representing Silver Lake, said he opposed McGuire's plan and thought it was unfair to the people of Claypool, Silver Lake and Atwood.

"Where would the people of Silver Lake go? All the way up to the new Jefferson school?" he asked.

McGuire said redistricting won't be done until the school building issue is decided, but Silver Lake students would probably be split up between Eisenhower, Washington and Jefferson.

He also said he would be happy to meet with patrons of each of the schools he wants to close, along with the board member representing that area.

Also, he said, "the process is not overnight. If we decide to close three buildings, it would be at least a year. If we decide to build, it would be the fall of 2006 before we would have occupancy."

The board is expected to make a decision on the proposal at the June 16 meeting. [[In-content Ad]]