By Dave Stafford, Herald Bulletin Staff Writer
ANDERSON, Ind. — Take a plummeting student enrollment, subtract millions of dollars in state funding, and what do you get? A public school system that this year was forced to shrink from two high schools to one, lay off teachers and continue to shutter elementary schools.
Add to the equation a new superintendent with a record of leading challenged school systems, and you have The Herald Bulletin’s top local news story of 2009: Anderson Community Schools’ tumultuous year.
The year ended with the school board’s decision that there will be just one high school in the 2010-2011 school year — an emotional decision that many Highland High School students, parents and teachers regarded as the de facto final bell for their school.
But the story has yet to entirely unfold. Key decisions await the board and new Superintendent Felix Chow, who officially takes over in the new year. To be decided are matters such as which building — the current Anderson High School or Highland — will be the site of the new grade 10-12 high school, and which will be the grade 7-9 middle school. Also undecided: the new school’s name, mascot and colors.
Here is a look back at the events that made Anderson Community Schools the year’s top local news story.
January: School board provides notice to teachers and administrators who might not be retained in the coming year due to school consolidation.
February: School-board appointed Challenge 2010 panel continues meeting to formulate plans to save money for school system and improve educational quality.
March: Challenge 2010 panel recommends closing North Side Middle School, Southview Elementary and Robinson Elementary, and moving Ebbertt Education Center to the Wigwam Complex. Board votes to close South Side Middle School, and Killbuck, Robinson and Southview elementaries. Killbuck is ultimately spared from closure.
April: ACS achieves the state benchmark for adequate yearly progress for the first time since 2004.
May: ACS lays off 36 teachers. School year ends with the closing of Robinson and Southview elementaries and South Side Middle School.
June: Receipt of $5 million in federal stimulus funds allows ACS to create 33 classroom positions.
July: Superintendent Mikella Lowe retires. Lennon Brown appointed interim superintendent. School board lays off four administrators, four secretaries and eight custodians. Almost two-thirds of teachers laid off in May are recalled due to reassignment or retirements.
August: School year begins. Classes resume at the Wigwam complex for the first time since fire consumed the old Anderson High School. SAT test results are released for the 2008-2009 school year. Anderson and Highland students scored higher on the test than in past school years, but still lagged state and national averages.
September: State ISTEP+ scores for the 2008-2009 school years are released. Anderson Community Schools students had a pass rate of 58.5 percent on the English and language arts portion of the test, well below the state average of 70.8 percent. In math, ACS students averaged a pass rate of 60.2 percent compared with 72 percent for the average Indiana school system. At a school board hearing, ACS Business Manager Kevin Brown says that unless declines in student enrollment can be reversed, the system will face a financial “catastrophic situation.” Anderson Federation of Teachers President Rick Muir notifies board of a grievance claiming crowded conditions at the Ebbertt Education Center’s new location in the Wigwam.
October: Facing a budget deficit of $9 million over the next three years, interim Superintendent Lennon Brown presented the board with two scenarios and urged a decision by year’s end. Option A called for consolidating to one high school with grades 10-12 and one middle school for grades 7-9. Option B proposed to keep two high schools with grades 7-12. Either option closed Edgewood, Forest Hills, Killbuck and 29th Street elementary schools at the end of the school year. “We need to come to grips with the reality we now face,” Brown told the board.
November: Felix H. Chow, a veteran school administrator in the Flint, Hamtramck and Pontiac systems in Michigan, is selected as the new ACS superintendent by a unanimous vote of the board. Board members emphasized his experience in leading school systems with budget and enrollment problems similar to those of ACS. During a subsequent interview, Chow says a decision on school consolidation must be made based on available data, and what best serves students in the long run. He says he wants to be in Anderson for years to come, and hopes that improving the schools will become his legacy.
December: At a school board meeting on Dec. 8, more than 500 patrons show up to express views on the options before the board. Those speaking support keeping two high schools by a margin of about 5-1, and are largely representative of Highland High School. The release of state budget projections means the deficit facing ACS widens. On Dec. 15, the board votes 5-2 in favor of Option A, consolidating to one high school. The decision also meant the end of Edgewood, Forest Hills, Killbuck and 29th Street elementary schools.
Contact Dave Stafford: 648-4250, dave.stafford@heraldbulletin.com
