At the monthly E-B School Board Meeting held on September 21, 2009, Dr. Cook recommended that the Board consider moving the Middle School to the high school. He noted that the E-B School District will have to make significant reductions in its budget for the next year and that moving the middle school would be a major cost savings. He indicated that the middle school could be moved to the north wing of the high school, but he did not have a plan or any details on how this could be accomplished or what the cost savings would be. The Board directed him to research this idea some more and to bring facts and figures to the next Board meeting.
Evidently, by the time the next board meeting was held, someone had decided that instead of having Dr. Cook and the school administration do the research on the feasibility of moving the middle school, a committee would be appointed to study the idea. The decision to form a committee and how to do it was not discussed at the Board’s meeting; it was announced by the administration. The minutes of the Board’s October meeting state: “A committee is being formed in order to look at cost saving ideas. Board members are encouraged to supply a couple names as representatives from their district. The names will be approved at the next board meeting.” There was no public announcement, as such, that a committee was being formed or any notice that if citizens in the school district were interested in serving on that committee that they should contact their board member. By the November Board meeting, the committee still was not appointed. According to the minutes of that meeting: “A committee is being established to review the possibility of moving the 7/8 grade to Eddyville along with other cost saving measures. The committee names will be approved at the next regular board meeting scheduled for December 21st.”
A fifteen member committee was approved at the December meeting, and, as it turned out, not all of the Board members opted to recommend two individuals to the committee. At the Board’s January meeting, Board member Dave Friedman commented that he had received a number of questions from the public on how the cost savings committee was selected.
How was the committee selected? Eleven members were selected by individual board members and four were selected by the administration. Below is a list of the committee members which also includes the connection these members have to the school and/or their family relationship with the school board members.
COST SAVINGS COMMITTEE
Member Selected or Connection to school and/or
Name Nominated by relationship to board member
Ron Shaffer Kevin Lane Former Board President & presently
employed by AEA
Mike Lane Kevin Lane Brother
Jennifer Harter Dan Hulbert
Connie Repogle Jeff Claypool MS/BAC Secretary
April Glosser Dave Friedman Daughter Also teaches at BAC
Leslie Ray Dave Friedman
Brett Scott Ed Glenn
Randall Maloy Ed Glenn
Sharis Claver Deb Bahr Daughter
Brian Chambers Deb Bahr
Jim Sutton Gay Murphy
Dennis Rutledge Administration BAC/M.S. Principal
Scott Williamson Administration H.S. Principal
Joellen Breon Administration EEAC Teacher and Union Rep. for the
Teacher’s Union.
Tony Fenton Administration School’s IT Coordinator, Coach,
The first meeting of the committee was held on January 11, 2010 (this was four months after Dr. Cook had made his original proposal). It was an organizational type of meeting and officers were elected. Jim Sutton and Sharis Claver were selected as co-chairpersons and Scott Williamson was selected as Secretary.
The second and third meetings were held on January 28 and February 3, respectively. These meetings were informational meetings with excellent presentations by the Board Secretary, Susan Bayer, and the High School Principal, Scott Williamson. These detailed presentations covered the school budget, staff and teacher pay, state educational requirements for all grades, number of teachers and students at different grade levels, comparison to other schools in the state with approximately the same student enrollment numbers, how space is presently utilized at all the schools in the district, extra curricular and sport activities at the schools, bus transportation requirements and costs, building and maintenance costs, etc. Scott Williamson stated several times that he wanted to make all the pertinent information as “transparent” as possible.
At one of the committee’s earlier meetings, co-chair Jim Sutton reminded the committee that the topics of cutting the budget and the possibility of moving the middle school were emotional issues and he wanted to keep all discussions on a rational and objective basis. The committee, itself, will not be making any decisions – they will only be making recommendations to the school board. It will be the elected officials of the school board who will have to make the final decisions.
Dr. Cook and the School Board have asked for the committee’s recommendation by the Board meeting scheduled for February 22nd. Should the Board decide to reduce the number of teachers, which is almost certain, it will have to act prior to the renewal of teacher contracts. I believe this deadline is sometime around the middle of March. There have been discussions among the board members that before making any final decisions regarding reductions in the number of teachers and the possible move of the middle school, there would be a public hearing to allow public input.
The next meeting of the committee is scheduled for tomorrow, February 10, at 6:00 p.m. at the Administration Office. The data has been presented, and now the committee will review this information and determine the pros and cons of each proposal and decide upon a recommendation for the School Board.