Parents and school officials meet about plans to vacate Grambau Center

About 50 parents listened to a presentation Tuesday evening by school principal Deb Jones and other school officials concerning the plan to relocate sixth grade students from the Grambau Center to the high school this fall. The budget and finance committee of the Rogers City Area Schools Board of Education hosted the special meeting to give everyone the opportunity to address the issues surrounding the plan that will ultimately lead to the closing of the Grambau Center?s second floor as a budget-cutting measure. The first step is to relocate sixth grade students to the high school where they will join seventh and eighth graders in the creation of a middle school by the district. A number of parents voiced their concern that sixth grade students are too young to be exposed to the social setting of a high school.

EVERYONE at the meeting agreed with these concerns. The school administration and the board?s budget and finance committee have been working on a plan that will create a separate middle school entity within the high school. Their objective is to achieve this with minimal interaction between high schoolers and the younger middle school students.

Not everyone was convinced of the necessity or practicality of the plan. Some people were surprised that a plan existed at all without first considering parents? concerns about younger children being thrust into an environment where older children would be present. One parent asked if teacher certification was the only reason why they were not considering putting the sixth graders into the elementary building instead of the high school. Assistant principal Missy Wozniak said that, while certification was a consideration, space was the main issue.

?THE COST of relocating the computer workroom and other special needs classrooms in the elementary school is simply too much and, besides, it would only be a temporary solution; in a few years we would be right back here facing the same problem.? The parents at the meeting brought up a number of other issues such as bullying, strong language and suggestive behavior that militate against the decision to move sixth graders into the high school building. School officials and teachers addressed each of these issues directly and assured those present that every effort was being made to eliminate potential conflicts. After the presentations, Jones and Wozniak conducted a walk-through of the proposed middle school area. They explained how the areas would be kept separate and still provide for instructional needs of the students.

THE PRIMARY REASON for the plan stems from the ongoing budget crisis at the state level and the dwindling enrollments in the district. Board president Mike Marx noted that the financial issues are critical and continue to put pressure on the process. ?There are some things coming up here, folks, that are not pretty,? he said. ?Next year?s budget isn?t going to be any better.? Superintendent Ed Schultz added that the problems have been building for the past 30 years as state regulators have placed more and more requirements on school districts while the legislature refuses to match those requirements with the funds to do the job. Schultz said Proposal A added two cents to the sales tax in 1994 that was going to be the funding mechanism for public education.

?PROPOSAL A is not working anymore. The $6,700 per child state allocation hasn?t had a cost of living increase in three years,? he said. He encouraged parents to get involved in the march on the capitol planned for June 21 to raise the issue in front of the legislature. ?No one likes to talk about raising taxes, but something has to be done or more schools will be closing for good around the state,? he continued. One of the parents asked, ?If you are willing to move our kids out of Grambau, why not move everybody out of there?? Several programs rent rooms on the first floor. Board treasurer and chairman of the budget and finance committee, Keith Gordon, said that was exactly what they intend to do over time.

?It?s a complicated issue and we have to continue to run our schools while we go through the process. We have the superintendent, business manager and administrative offices over there now. We have to make room first before we can move them,? he said. SOMEONE ASKED if jobs would be lost as a result of the shift from Grambau to the high school and Gordon indicated there would be some reductions based on jobs and seniority. He noted that approximately 80 percent of the $5 million budget is for salaries, wages and benefits. Sixth grade teacher Vicki Bruder said she was not happy with the move but understands why it has to be d

one. ?One thing I am glad about is we still will have all the sixth grade activities like spelling bees, the lock-in and so forth. I still don?t want to move but the realities are there and we have to go with that. At least now we can be a real middle school,? she added. Another parent asked, ?Is there going to be a parents survey over this issue? Wouldn?t it be worthwhile knowing how many parents might be planning to put their kids in home school or parochial school if this happens?? Board member Richard Hanson responded that it was not a matter of choice for the board, as the financial issues are not going away.

?One way or another, we have to face up to the fact that the money is not there and we are obliged to balance the budget. We can?t keep dipping into the savings, that will go away very quickly and then what do we do?? Lisa Rhode spoke for many parents when she said, ?We can still help out and do things for the school as parents. We can volunteer our services whenever we can. After all, these are our children and it?s still our school system.?

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