School Board Decides To Close West Elementary

The fate of West Elementary was decided by the Board of Education at their February 11 meeting. The decision was made to close West Elementary at the end of the school year.

Discussion of West Elementary started with a statement from Kimball resident and former City Council President Kim Baliman who tried to get the board to reconsider closing West.

“I hope there’s a way to keep West Elementary open. I think that school is designed perfectly for the kids.I would hate to see them moved into one building unless there’s nothing else that can be done about it. I respect your decision, but I just in my heart think that this town is going to grow, and that we need to have the best schools that we can,” Baliman said.

According to School Board President Danielle Reader, the decision ultimately came down between keeping the school or firing staff members.

“In our opinion, the best education you give kids is the people, not the buildings they’re in. We want quality staff more than anything else. When you’re looking at a shortfall enough to where you have to make cuts somewhere. When it comes between choosing a brick building or three teachers, as much as we don’t want to do that, I’m choosing people,” Reader said.

The board made it clear that none of them are enthusiastic about closing West Elementary, but that the choice was necessary in order to keep a quality education for the children who attend Kimball Public Schools.

“It’s not the building that provides the educational system. It’s what you provide within those four walls. It’s not an easy decision, board member Rick Perry said.

Perry’s sentiment was echoed by board member Theresa Keller.

“You could teach in a tent as long as you have good teachers,” Keller said.

Board member Lynn Vogel stressed that, though the board is reluctant to close the school, it came down to Kimball Public Schools’ financial needs and that action had to be taken.

“We’ve been talking about this for eight years. When I first got on the board I was in disagreement. The numbers don’t lie, and we are where we are. We have to do something to save money. In the past, it was a luxury. We had the money. We don’t have that luxury anymore, and it’s time,”Vogel said.

Budgeting was the focus of a public forum on the matter of West held on January 30 in the McNees Auditorium. At the time, Kimball Public Schools superintendent Troy Unzicker explained that the district was approximately $200,000 short in funds for paying regular bills.

Wear and tear on the West Elementary building, he added, would require some $275,000 in order to bring the school’s boiler and pipes up to code requirements.

“And if you wanted to bring some kind of air unit into this, another $250,000,” Unzicker said during the January meeting.

The district received no state money to assist with budgets.

With the financial concerns evident, much of the public commentary at the forum centered on the question of class size and the separation of younger students from the older classrooms.

The board approved a motion to look over options of what to do with the West Elementary building after the closure with the options to be brought back before the board in approximately one month for consideration.

While there was no concrete notion of the building’s future, West Elementary operations will begin to shift to Mary Lynch at the end of the current school year.