Warsaw May Redraw School Board Districts

Warsaw School Board electoral districts may be changed in the future as the board tries to equalize the districts according to population.

At Monday's school board meeting superintendent Dr. Lee Harman said the school board is made up of seven districts, with each board member elected as a representative of a specific district and elected only by voters in that district. When the board was set up for election, he said, it was based on the 1990 census and by law is required to reapportion the districts after each 10-year census.

For example, district 2, which includes Plain Township precincts 1, 2 and 3, had a population of 4,311 in 1990, and 6,436 in 2000. However, district 5, which is Warsaw, ward 2 precinct 2 and ward 3 precinct 1, and Wayne Township precincts 3, 4 and 10, went from a population of 4,566 in 1990 to 4,529 in 2000.

"We know there's some work that has to be done to get it where the law says it has to be," Harman said. The process, however, is difficult because the reapportionment must be done by district. Max Reed, the attorney for the school board, and former board member Arden Warner are working on the reapportionment.

Harman said they should come up with a proposal soon and he expects to have a final proposal by January.

County councilman John Kinsey, who attended the school board meeting, asked if the reapportionment was based on the number of students in the district or on the population.

"We could have 50,000 people and only two kids?" he asked.

"Yes," Harman said. According to state statute, the districts are based on population.

Harman also said the reapportionment affects only how board members are elected and has no effect on school attendance districts.

The board also heard from Dale Tucker, a former board member, who said, "I'm concerned about the 5 percent of the people in this county that control the government - that's how many people vote in the county and I think that's horrible. It's because we don't teach patriotism."

Tucker asked a high school student at the meeting if he knew what the Bataan Death March was. The student said no.

"I'm not blaming you," Tucker told the student. "I'm blaming the community for not standing up."

He suggested that the schools ask World War II veterans to speak periodically to history classes to make history real for the students.

The board also:

• Heard a report from Jacque Brandenburg, Atwood Elementary principal, on the Corrected Learning Assures Successful Students program. CLASS includes lifelong guidelines - students should be truthful, trustworthy, use active listening, do their personal best and use no put-downs - and emphasizes life skills, such as integrity, responsibility, humor, patience and organization. The school will hold a parents meeting Oct. 11 from 7 to 8 p.m. to discuss the program.

• Heard from assistant superintendent Dr. Dave McGuire that more than 700 high school students took part in summer school, either ISTEP remediation or band, and approximately 700 elementary and middle school students also attended summer school.

• Learned from McGuire that besides ISTEP, the corporation is using MAP testing. Measure of Academic Progress is computer based and individualized.

"As a person takes it, it refocuses the level of difficulty," McGuire said.

• Approved Warsaw Community Schools membership with North Central Association, which will help with accreditation. Cost of the membership will be $6,900 the first year for 10 elementaries and two middle schools (the high school already is a member), and $4,500 for succeeding years.

• Approved holding an auction of used and obsolete equipment, including filmstrip projectors, old computers, electric typewriters, and "some things that flat out defy description," according to Greg Schroeder, WCS maintenance director.

• Heard from Harman that enrollment as of Monday was 6,358 students, a decrease of approximately 30 students from this time last year.

School board members are: president Craig Allebach, vice president Charles Sauders, secretary Roy Szymanski, Brad Brail, Larry Chamberlain, Cathy Folk and James Folk. The board meets at 7 p.m. in the administration building on the third Monday of each month.