School Closures And Consolidations Discussed

School closures and consolidations have been hot topic for few years in neighboring counties and across the state, and Barbour County Board of Education is starting to hold preliminary discussions on the topic due to continuous declining student enrollment.

As of now, the school board has to come up with approximately $1.6 million in savings. A large portion of that money goes to building maintenance, increasing cost of utilities, and the employment of service personnel in each building. For now, Board of Education will look into building usage percentages. Kasson Middle and Elementary School currently operates on only 35% usage, while Junior Elementary and Belington Elementary hover just over 60%, with all other schools around 40-50%.

Another major factor being taken into consideration is the shortage of certified teachers, particularly in middle schools, and even more in core classes. There is also a shortage of bus drivers, which is yet another issue that the Board will be ask to consider once making the decision on any closures or consolidation.

Superintendent asked the Board to consider consolidating all middle schools into one, moving it into current Philip Barbour High School complex, which would then house students grades 6-12. This idea would have fifth graders moving back to elementary school level. However, this is just used as a starting point for future conversations and a mere suggestion at this time, and not any initial nor official plan.

Not even a decade ago, Barbour County had less than 25 students on a homeschooling plan. This year, that number is over 400, and with Hope scholarship recipients, and students enrolled in virtual, private, or charter schools, more than 500 Barbour County students will not be attending public schools.

For each student that does not attend public school, county loses around $6,000 in funding, meaning that this year, they stand to lose well over $3,000,000, a substantial amount that might require them to eliminate up to 28 additional jobs. In addition to the money lost, any student that returns to public school will not result in the school system then getting the money back.

Public schools are required to accept all students, but do not get paid for all of them. Any part time students (like 3 year olds who attend pre-K three days a week or homeschooling students who take part in any classes or extracurricular activities at the public school) have to be accepted, despite public schools not receiving any funding for providing education to those students. For any student that enrolls into charter school (whether physical or online), county is required to pay the charter school a certain percentage of federal funding they receive.

As of now, any proposals by the County Board of Education will have to be submitted to the State Board of Education by mid-November to be considered before the state's deadline in December. According to this timeline, public legal ads will have to be published for three consecutive weeks at the end of August and beginning of September; the impact document for public viewing will have to be available by mid-September; and public hearings would be held in October.