CLEARFIELD – Centre Elementary will remain open for the 2006-07 school year, but what that will do to the budget of the Clearfield Area School District remains to be seen.
In a 4-5 vote, the board defeated a motion that would have closed the school and cut several jobs. The positions up for elimination included one elementary teacher, one full-time custodian, one full-time secretary, one library aide, one nurse, one Title I assistant, two general utility workers and three noon-time aides.
At the moment when the approximately 150 people in attendance realized the board was defeating the motion to close Centre Elementary, gasps could be heard from the auditorium of the high school, the site for Thursday night’s special board meeting. When all of the vote came in, applause echoed and some of the teachers of Centre Elementary reached for tissues to wipe away their tears of joy.
“The board is the representative of the public, and I think what you see with the board is that they considered the issues deeply,” said Dr. Denise Keltz, district superintendent. “The administration will implement the wishes of the board.”
“I voted not to close (Centre Elementary) this year because I feel we did a lot of change in our budget to allow it to stay open,” said Dr. Tina Serafini, board member, after the meeting.
The preliminary budget for the 2006-07 school year was presented to the board and approved at Monday’s meeting. The document did not reveal whether figures outlined in the $30.17 million budget took into account keeping Centre Elementary open. Jason Barnett, director of business affairs, said Thursday that the $200,000 that would have been saved by closing the school is equal to the amount of money brought in by 2 mills of taxes. With the tentative budget, taxpayers are looking at a 4.24-mill increase.
The board is scheduled to make final approval of the 2006-07 budget June 26.
Larry Putt, board member, made the motion to close Centre Elementary and also voted for its closure. After Thursday’s meeting, he said, “I just felt it was the right thing to do for the taxpayers and the district itself.”
Putt said he respected the other members of the board and their individual votes. “Hopefully everything will fall into place,” he said.
“We will stay unified as a board despite our differences in opinion.”
Before the board took their vote, Andrea Smith of Glen Richey was one of many parents to speak.
Smith said that one week before school was scheduled to start last year, some students learned that they would be attending Centre Elementary in an effort to reduce class sizes within the district. Nine months later, she said, the students were facing the possibility that they would be moved again.
“What is this administration going to ask you to do next year?” Smith asked the parents of Centre Elementary students who were at the meeting.
After the meeting, Dr. Serafini spoke with GantDaily and offered her thoughts on what might happen next year. “Unless there are some big changes in enrollment numbers, the board will not have a choice,” she said.
The board also voted on the redistricting of some Bradford Elementary students Thursday night. A total of 13 students, one each in kindergarten and second grade, two in first grade, three in third grade and six in fourth grade, will be moved to Girard-Goshen Elementary after the board approved the motion 5-4.
Russ Krise, Bradford Elementary parent, spoke prior to the board’s vote, asking them several “key questions.”
He asked about not only the cost savings of closing Centre Elementary, but also the cost savings of moving students from Bradford Elementary. The answer from Barnett was $100,000, a price disputed by some people in attendance.
Two other issues were voted on Thursday night, both of which affected the district’s personnel.
The first motion approved altering the gifted program, eliminating the positoin of Steve Switala, gifted instructor. The change will require that gifted students work with a guidance counselor and teachers within the school to complete their gifted coursework.
The second motion affecting personnel dissolved the position of athletic and facilities director at the end of the current school year with a unaniamous board vote. Jon Mikesell, athletic and facilities director, will be given the opportunity to become a guidance counselor and will have the option to bid on the position of athletic director.
Voting breakdowns:
Closure of Centre Elementary – For: Joe Bower Jr., Jeff Carns, Larry Putt and Sandy Sloppy; against: R. Denning Gearhart, Daniel Lynch, Tim Morgan, Dr. Tina Serafini and John Sobel
Redistricting of 13 Bradford Elementary students – For: Carns, Putt, Serafini, Sloppy and Bower; against: Gearhart, Lynch, Morgan, Sobel
Change to gifted program – For: Lynch, Morgan, Putt, Serafini, Sloppy, Bower and Carns; against: Gearhart and Sobel