February 8, 2025

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As university closures eyed, VCSC commences general public talks | Regional News

4 min read

A committee is recommending the closure and repurposing of West Vigo and Deming elementary educational facilities, and now, Vigo County Faculty Corp. leaders want to listen to from the neighborhood.

The first of three local community conferences is scheduled for tonight at the West Vigo Elementary Convention Heart.

“I feel [the meetings] are amazingly significant for our group to recognize not just why we are rightsizing our district, but for our community’s comprehending of what lies ahead,” Superintendent Rob Haworth explained to reporters Wednesday. “When you assume about closing properties, it could be just a financial challenge. But this is also a coronary heart situation as nicely.”

The VCSC strategic plan, accepted almost a year in the past, known as for an elementary committee to make suggestions, with two closings to occur in 2021 and a 3rd in 2022.

If accepted by the faculty board, West Vigo and Deming faculties would close at the finish of the current tutorial year West Vigo college students would be redistricted to Sugar Creek Consolidated and Fayette, whilst Deming students would go to Franklin and Ouabache.

The university district very first declared the proposed reduction of elementary schools in Oct 2019, component of a shelling out reduction program in reaction to declining enrollment, money challenges and a declining hard cash balance.

The district also pledged to make spending reductions when it sought an operational referendum in November 2019, which voters permitted.

On Wednesday, Haworth explained he hopes to have a board vote on the university closures by the end of this month or early February, which would be valuable in the transition approach for households. He also will advocate that the repurposed West Vigo Elementary setting up come to be the long term property of VCSC administrative offices.

The district options to repurpose each properties for educational and neighborhood employs they will not continue being vacant.

For these wanting to attend the local community meetings, RSVPs are necessary, and each meeting will be minimal to 50 in-person attendees and 100 digital attendees. These fascinated need to RSVP by visiting tinyurl.com/VCSCcommunitymeetingRSVP.

Other neighborhood meetings will be done Jan. 13 at the West Vigo Convention Centre and Jan. 19 at Deming Elementary.

At the group conferences, the district also will examine enrollment difficulties, similar economic problems, rightsizing the district’s amount of schools and how a planned high university venture suits into these options. The meetings will include a presentation, breakout periods for contributors, and an opportunity for users of the public to talk to concerns.

Amid the points Haworth will make:

• A demographic analyze predicts VCSC will drop 1,000 college students by 2031 the district need to ideal size for 13,000 pupils.

• Peer school districts in Indiana have less elementary universities. Several that are in the leading 10 for enrollment have just 11 elementary schools, even though Vigo has 18.

• Vigo County has eight universities with 330 college students or less. In 2019-20, Deming experienced 238 and West Vigo, 234. Elementary schools beneath 300 in enrollment “are not economical,” Haworth claimed. “We require operational discounts to support our district’s other requires.”

• In recommending West Vigo and Deming, the committee seemed at this sort of aspects as age and condition of making present-day and predicted enrollment and relieve of consolidation into close by educational facilities. Other variables bundled university boundaries, potential and transportation.

At the time consolidation is entire, none of the educational institutions getting college students are predicted to be as massive as the district’s three most significant elementary colleges, which are Dropped Creek, Dixie Bee and Terre Town, Haworth reported.

Also, “Class measurement is not going to enhance,” he mentioned.

One more goal was to prevent displacing pupils in the other structures that will receive West Vigo and Deming pupils.

Other doable uses for the closed schools will be consolidation of early discovering facilities into 1 place. Also, the lease for Protected Bridge Specific Training District is up in September and the objective is to move it into VCSC services.

Throughout group meetings, some preliminary discussion will take area connected to substantial educational institutions, which are in will need of facility enhancements.

“I do believe that in order for us to fulfill the mandates of the strategic approach, if we really don’t consider this motion [to close elementary schools], our capability to satisfy the preserving targets the board has set out for us could be in jeopardy,” Haworth mentioned.

Sue Loughlin can be attained at 812-231-4235 or at [email protected] Stick to Sue on Twitter @TribStarSue.

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