By Dave Stafford, Herald Bulletin Staff Writer
ANDERSON, Ind. — Outnumbered across the street 10-to-1 by people interested in leaving Anderson Community Schools, Superintendent Felix Chow won applause from about 40 people who attended a town hall-style meeting Thursday at Highland High School.
While he reiterated the message that budget woes will force painful cuts, he said parents and the school system need to speak to the many positives. He pointed to highly ranked state wrestlers from Highland and that “every year, our high school students are getting over $1 million in scholarships.”
Chow said he had challenged ACS staff members in his monthly memo to volunteer one hour a month to do something in the schools. “What I’m trying to do is get a groundswell,” he said. “Maybe it’s the beginning of saying to the naysayers that Anderson schools are not so bad a place to be.”
Because of budget deficits and student flight, ACS’s consolidation will transform Highland next year into a middle school for grades 7-9, and Anderson will be the district’s lone high school. Four elementary schools — including Killbuck in Richland Township — will close.
Chow fielded questions from parents and patrons ranging from the class structure at intermediate schools for grades 4-6 to possible cuts to Advanced Placement courses next school year. Many of those questions are still being worked out, and Chow invited parents and patrons to future town halls.
But he also was asked about the future of Highland and the meeting of the Madison County School Alliance, which proposes carving a new district out of ACS.
“Everybody has the right to claim,” he said. “That’s democracy.”
But he also likened it to the thrill of a new baby that also comes with “all the dirty diapers.
“The good, the bad and the ugly will come with it.”
Anderson Federation of Teachers President Rick Muir said the schools would be better served by a new spirit of unity. “I don’t care if you’re a Pirate or a Scot or an Indian,” he said. “They’re an Anderson child.”
Muir said he believed that efforts to peel away the Highland district represented a new form of economic segregation. “They’re leaving because, in my opinion, they don’t want to go to school with the poorest students, whether they’re white, black or Hispanic,” he said.
ACS school transition meetings
Town-hall style meetings are planned at these schools on the dates noted. Meetings are at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Anderson Community Schools is sponsoring the events in partnership with the ACS Parent Advisory Council.
-- Killbuck Elementary*: Monday, Feb. 8
-- Edgewood Elementary*: Thursday, Feb. 11
-- East Side Middle School: Monday, Feb. 15
-- Ebbertt Education Center: Tuesday, Feb. 16 as part of open house, 7-8 p.m.
-- North Side Middle School: Wednesday, Feb. 17
-- Forest Hills Elementary*: Thursday, Feb. 18
-- 29th Street Elementary*: Tuesday, Feb. 23
-- Eastside Elementary: Wednesday, Feb. 24
- -Erskine Elementary: Monday, March 1
--10th Street Elementary: Monday, March 8
-- Valley Grove Elementary: Wednesday, March 17
-- Anderson Elementary: Thursday, March 18
* School will close at end of academic year.
Contact Dave Stafford: 648-4250, dave.stafford@heraldbulletin.com
