Claypool and Winona Lake are on their way to getting new facilities after the school board's preliminary approval Monday.

Warsaw School Board voted five-to-two in favor of adding onto and renovating Claypool Elementary and building a new school in the Jefferson Elementary area.

Cost of the projects is expected to be $30 million. The cost would be financed through the school's existing debt service fund without the need for an increase in property taxes, according to WCS Superintendent Dr. Dave McGuire.

The proposal originally was made at the May school board meeting, when McGuire recommended closing the four smallest schools - Atwood, Claypool, Jefferson and Silver Lake - and building two new four-section schools, one in Prairie Township and one near the current Jefferson Elementary.

McGuire changed the proposal last week by dropping the Prairie Township school and suggesting a renovated and enlarged Claypool school to accommodate Claypool and Silver Lake students.

If the "close-four-build-two" proposal is defeated, McGuire said, the alternative would be to still close the small schools, and move the sixth-graders into the middle schools.

Over the course of the last month, McGuire has held meetings at all of the schools proposed for closing.

Monday's board vote followed two hours of discussion of the issue by the public, which was almost evenly divided between those who oppose the plan and those who support it.

Most of the opposition pointed out the haste with which the decision was being made, the fact that the original plan to build a new school in Prairie Township was now dropped and the uncertainty of the current property tax situation.

"The state is in deep trouble financially - they borrowed money to get the money to pay the schools this year," said Bill Ruppel, state representative for District 22, which includes Claypool and Silver Lake. "I think local governments and school boards must realize that the goose that laid the golden egg is gone. I urge you to take some time and be thoughtful. Look at the figures, look at what the state's going through. If the state doesn't recover, it will be a bigger burden on property tax payers."

Several people from Silver Lake and Atwood said they would remonstrate if the board passed the resolution, and Atwood resident Becky Thomas said she was concerned that only two board members attended the meeting at Atwood Elementary.

"What happened to Atwood? What happened to Leesburg? Where are we all going?" she asked. "We would as a voting public appreciate you folks taking time and consideration for the voters who put you into office."

Some supporters of the proposal said they would rather their children attend a larger school than send sixth-graders to middle school, which, said Mary Love, a teacher, "is encouraging our children to grow up too fast."

Steve Koontz, a Winona Lake resident and former Jefferson student, said, "If we need to move our kids into a larger school to keep the sixth grade in elementary, then that's what we have to do."

Other parents pointed out that Harrison Elementary is almost at capacity, and something should be done soon.

"We are overcrowded - we've been told we may get portables brought in," said Lynn Murphy, a Harrison parent. "We don't have time to wait."

Paul Wagner, another Harrison parent, said he supported McGuire's proposal, and that the per-student cost is less at a larger school like Harrison than at a smaller school. "The spirit of a school is not gonna be just the size," he said.

Defeating the proposal may cost Warsaw Community High School more teachers, said Jim LeMasters, a WCHS teacher.

"This year we lost eight teachers at the high school," he said. If you keep the small schools open, we may lose another eight to 12 teachers next year."

When the board voted, the newest board members, Gene England and Ron Yeiter, voted against the proposal.

England, the southern district representative, said there were too many unknown factors, such as where the new Claypool school building would be, the location of the new Jefferson Elementary, lack of a new school in Prairie Township and the uncertainty of the property tax situation.

Yeiter, who represents the Atwood area, said the vagueness of the resolution was a stumbling block, and it did not allow for equitable distribution of educational resources.

"To me, Dave," he said to McGuire, "it sounds like an open checkbook to an ex-wife."

He also questioned the estimated $585,000 in additional operating costs, and asked WCS business manager Rande Thorpe if that meant a tax increase for the general fund.

"If we have to raise money for operating expenses, the only way the state of Indiana allows us to raise that money is to raise taxes," Thorpe said.

Other board members gave their reasons for voting in favor of the resolution. Mark Minatel, the representative from Winona Lake, said he would rather not change Jefferson Elementary, but a change is going to occur and the Jefferson building is landlocked, so he supports building a new school.

Larry Chamberlain, a Winona Lake resident, said he supported the proposal because it is the board's responsibility to address the needs of all the children in the district and to maintain the financial solvency of the district.

Cathy Folk, who represents the northern district, said the situation has reached a crisis stage and something had to be done now to prevent laying off teachers in the future. "I have to represent the whole district," she said. "I strongly support going ahead with the resolution."

Jim Folk, a Warsaw resident and former Claypool teacher, said he supported the proposal because "we're gonna do what's best for the kids in the school corporation."

The president of the school board, Craig Allebach, who also is the Winona Lake town manager and works as head of security for Grace College, supported the resolution but said he is concerned about the Atwood situation. He asked Thorpe when the board can look at adding a new Atwood school.

"We wouldn't be able to build a third school without an increased overall capital projects fund tax rate," Thorpe said. [[In-content Ad]]