In nearly two decades of attending school board meetings, covering meetings regarding school business and reading about the decisions of school board members, never have I felt so uninformed as with recent proposals by the Warsaw Community School Corp.

Whenever a corporation has suggested schools be closed and a new one built, the justification has always been accompanied by charts, graphs and columns of figures. If a representative said the corporation would save money - voila! Long columns of numbers were provided on a screen and on handouts for anyone to follow along. The savings, over the course of a few years, were always evident.

It is being said that closing Atwood, Silver Lake, Claypool and Jefferson will save money. And like, Cuba Gooding Jr.'s character in the movie "Jerry McGuire," I say, "Show me the money!"

Since most of the people attending the recent meetings about school closures are Warsaw Community High School graduates, I figure they're able to see if the figures in Column A outweigh the figures in Column B.

How can closing schools at a savings of $200,000 compare to the interest payment of $189,000 on a $30-million, 20-year bond?

Estimates about transportation costs have not been provided. Can this be so difficult to figure out?

Parents already can project direct expenses to them. Surely they have calculated the cost to transport half-day kindergarten students from Silver Lake to Claypool, or Warsaw or wherever. How about getting the little darlings out of bed 45 minutes earlier each morning? Will they get dressed in the dark? No, every light in the house will be on, and the utility bills will go up. But that's small stuff.

This isn't like the North Webster announcement, where few residents complained about a new elementary building. That community was presented with a financial statement from the get-go. They welcomed the task of developing a soon-to-be thriving community center.

Silver Lake doesn't want the burden of a community center; they want the benefit of an in-town school. Ah, well, that big old building will soon be Clay Township's problem, won't it? When the school closes, citizens can pay for two buildings. One the corporation likes, one it doesn't like.

At a recent meeting, the public learned the Claypool School is to be expanded instead of closed. This is new information.

Chaotic, isn't it? Why does the plan keep evolving?

When state representatives attend local meetings and warn against a project, give them a listen. State Sen. Kent Adams and Rep. Dave Wolkins will assure you, as they did recently in Atwood, there will be legislation to raise taxes this fall. Where else is the 3 percent increase toward education supposed to come from?

Our true property taxes won't be known until November, if then. How can a tax rate be voted on by the school corporation in June?

And how about the study (after study) showing our population is expected to peak by 2008 and then decline? The plan to build two 600-student buildings may never be utilized at full capacity.

I like what Jim Walmer said recently. He suggested if the school corporation wants to save money, that a couple of auditorium-style buildings should be constructed and one teacher instructs all the students. Now there are real savings.

He has some interesting ideas about big schools where one-on-one attention is at a premium and a correlation with the crime rate.

Pleas that the intimate small schools stay open have been met with deaf ears. I've not heard one parent complain about overcrowding.

Only administrators seem to have that concern.

Harrison and Leesburg are overcrowded. The plan to build a Prairie Township school, welcomed by those communities, recommended by yet another study, has been abandoned.

How will the caf-style curtains hanging in the current Silver Lake school windows be translated to the narrow strips of glass offered by "modern" facilities?

Why is an architectural firm being contracted? Visit any elementary or middle schools built in the last 15 years. They all look alike. Offices here, classrooms there, gymnasium here, cafeteria there, blah, blah, blah. Nary a decent sized window or a stick of real wood trim anywhere.

Just take one of the other elementary or middle school designs and plunk it down on the new property. We should save money wherever we can, if economics is the issue.

The folks at Jefferson are excited at the prospect of a new four-section school, oh, I correct myself, the latest information indicates a three-section school, as long as it's in their own backyard.

(And what's so hard about saying three-classrooms-per-grade instead of three-section? Sounds like they're referring to a piece of fruit or something under a microscope.)

Jefferson staff and parents are happy to consider a new building. Let us hope toxic waste wasn't really dumped on the Grace College practice soccer field as alleged. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management will sort that out. Grace College's campus will be more unified if the elementary school moves. The switch will be a good, welcome exchange.

Perhaps by Monday's meeting the school corporation will have a firm plan in mind and will have projected expenses and those much-talked-about savings committed on paper. [[In-content Ad]]