RC School board votes to close second floor of Grambau Center
Closing the second floor of the Harry G. Grambau Center was not an easy decision, and one not taken lightly, said Keith Gordon, who serves on the Rogers City Area Schools Board of Education, but it will save the district money. “We are losing 30 more students,” said Gordon of graduating 65 students in June and having only 31 kindergarten students enrolled in the fall.
The anticipated loss in state aid will be about $200,000. Gordon said even with the closing of the second floor of the Grambau, it still won’t be enough to balance the budget and even more cuts will have to be made. The school board, after a lengthy discussion Monday evening and listening to several minutes of comments from concerned parents, voted 6-1 to close the floor and move the fifth and sixth grade classes to a yet-to-be-determined building. Superintendent Ed Schultz recommended the board cease using the Grambau Center for the fifth and sixth grade classes beginning this fall and to house the fifth grade at the elementary school and the sixth grade at the high school.
A motion was made on the recommendation, but not seconded, so it died for a lack of support. A second motion to close the Grambau Center second floor was approved, but didn’t specify where the fifth and sixth grades will be in the fall. That will come at a later date.
A MEETING has been scheduled in the high school library Tuesday at 7 p.m. for parents of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. Schultz stressed the need for a decision to be made as soon as possible. He said there has been much discussion on the issue among administrators, teachers, staff, and board members. Schultz also realizes the community has been abuzz with the proposed move.
Approximately $60,000 is expected to be saved in personnel costs and in energy savings by sealing off the second floor, he said. Alternatively, the state has expressed an initial interest in leasing the available space,” Schultz said. “That’s a new development.” Some parents attending Monday’s meeting don’t believe money issues should come before children.
LISA RHODE, a parent of a fifth grader who could be relocated to the high school building, said “there are more ramifications from this than you could possibly think of. “I know money is the issue, but these are our children. Those little kids don’t belong up there with juniors and seniors. The social aspects of what they see and learn from them, is unbelievable.” She is concerned that the younger students will be exposed to social pressures that will be out of their control.
“It actually hurts me to have to almost beg you to listen to me,” said Rhode. “You are parents, and you know how hard it is to raise kids, and when they are in high school it’s even harder.” Rhode asked the board: “Are you waiting until a bunch of parents start pulling their kids? It’s going to happen.”
SHANNON BREGE, who also will have a sixth grader in the fall, said there are parents thinking of pulling their children from the public school and placing them in different schools. “I am not saying it in a threatening matter, I just want to let you know if you are thinking about this as an option to save money, in the long run, you are not going to,” said Brege. “These families have more than one child. I also agree with the social issues that sixth graders do not need to be put in a situation where values that are taught at home aren’t necessarily in the schools.
“Just as all of you have years invested in your education and in your careers, I have years invested in my children. This is my job. I’m a parent, and I need to do what is best for my children. I’m not here to ruffle feathers, but sometimes doing the right thing isn’t always the easiest, and in my opinion, moving these children isn’t the right thing.” Schultz said the preliminary plan is to isolate the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students, as much as possible, from the older students.
BOARD MEMBER Norm Karbon wondered why the fifth and sixth grade classes couldn’t be moved to the elementary school. He said the elementary was constructed 50 years ago to house K-8th grade. “It’s the same structure,” said Karbon. “I am curious as to why we can’t house the K-6.”
Keith Gordon, who served on the facilities committee, which explored the district’s options, said there are smaller class sizes now. “We’ve reduced class sizes to 15, 16, and 17, on average,” said Gordon. “There are also some special needs classrooms that are set aside. That takes up space too. We didn’t have that back in 1955.” Gordon said the committee left “no stone unturned” in trying to decide on the best option. There isn’t enough room at the elementary, unless the computer lab, library, and art lab are moved to another location, and if the kindergarten is relocated back to the Grambau lower floor, there isn’t enough room unless a tenant is asked to leave.
“Who is more important, our students or the tenants?” asked board member Allan Smolinski. “I have a fifth grade daughter going into sixth grade and I don’t want her up there. I think the best option is to house them all at the elementary and to find some way to make it work.”
PRINCIPAL DEB JONES said another area of concern is having teachers with the proper certification in the right buildings. The state is no longer issuing K-6 certifications to teachers. It is now issuing K-5 certificates. “In a few years you’ll have to put them where the certifications will work,” said Jones. “Do we want to move these kids for two or three years and then end up moving them again so that the teacher certifications will work, or should we just make it one move?” Jones said all of the teachers are certified at present, but when teachers with the K-6 certification retire, only teachers with a K-5 certificate can be hired to replace them. If the sixth graders were at the elementary, Jones said, “One teacher will have to come in and teach social studies and one teacher will have to teach math. One person will have to come in and teach science. “They are going to have to move anyway,” said Jones. Board member Dick Hanson said he understands the concerns of parents because his son was part of the first group of seventh graders moved to the high school a few years ago.
“I REALLY DO understand the frustrations,” Hanson said. “The ideal choice is to move them up to the elementary school. But because of that K-6 certification, that option isn’t going to work.” He said for financial reasons, the district must make some cuts. “We can only take so much money out of our fund equity,” said Gordon. “Once that goes, we’ll be like Vanderbilt. Until they change how schools are funded, it’s going to be difficult. Right now we are looking at taking out $250,000 from fund equity. Those savings don’t get replaced.”
Before the
Jones said a meeting with parents was in the works, but Monday’s special school board meeting was posted with the class relocations on the agenda before she could get a parents’ meeting organized.