Debbie Blank
Not enough dollars was the common theme running through the Batesville Community School Corp. Dec. 21 meeting.
The resignation of Batesville High School agricultural science teacher Cassie Hartsell was accepted. She told the board, “I'm not leaving because I couldn't do the job ... I'm leaving because of a lack of funding ... and administration support.”
“This year we tried to keep doing what we're doing and we've run into huge obstacles ... being told we can’t go to contest because of funding. We can't get permission slips signed. I was supposed to have $3,000 for capital improvements and equipment and did not see a dime of that this year. I do know you live in an ag community and ... the kids deserve an A+ program.”
The teacher said she was concerned about her students’ safety because of aging equipment. One was hurt when a 40-year-old gunlike apparatus failed, Hartsell reported.
BHS senior Breanna Nuhring confirmed that tools “are falling apart.” She said, “Farming has been in my family forever .... My brother is a freshman. I don't want him to go through what I've gone through, four or five ag teachers.”
Nuhring believed the agriculture program is valuable, calling FFA leadership workshops and other events “life changing.”
BCSC President Chris Lowery agreed with Hartsell that “funding is an issue. (State) funding, as we’ve all been reading in the newspapers, is going to go from not really good to worse ... We're already calculating how we're going to deal with that without cutting curriculum and teachers.”
Since voters denied a $28 million project to expand and update the four schools during a Nov. 3 referendum, a small committee (superintendent Dr. Jim Roberts, buildings and grounds director Tim Hunter, trustees Lowery and Mike Bettice and community liaison David Raver) has been brainstorming a new plan.
Roberts reported on actions of two Indianapolis consulting firms. Fanning/Howey has worked on fresh drawings for a design of the Batesville Intermediate School renovation and addition and H.J. Umbaugh has created new tax impact charts based upon various project costs.
The superintendent noted a public hearing would have to take place in January in order to get a different project on the May 4 ballot and said it would be very difficult to meet that deadline.
Speaking about Gov. Mitch Daniels’ recent announcement that Hoosier schools would receive $300 million less than expected in the next 18 months, Roberts said, “We certainly have funding cuts coming up. Three percent is a very real possibility for each school corporation in the state.”
To ask trustees to slash thousands of dollars out of the budget while moving ahead on a building project "may be a mistake."
Bettice said, “My gut tells me, based on the feedback we've gotten, now is not the right time for us to try to push for a May date.” He is worried about how to provide space for students. “We're out of classrooms at the primary ... and intermediate schools.” If the BCSC population continues to grow, the problem "will only get worse."
Although some citizens have suggested using portable classrooms, Bettice said if he was the parent of a young student, “I would find that objectionable. I don't think that's a reasonable solution to the issue.”
Trustee Rick Lindemann said it would be a waste of money to invest in temporary space.
The board consensus was for the small group to continue to seek solutions.
Details are hazy, but there was one possible bright bit of money news. The superintendent will go to Madison Dec. 28 to hear Dr. Tony Bennett, state superintendent of public instruction, discuss how school districts can attain Race to the Top federal stimulus dollars.
If Roberts, Lowery and Batesville Educators Association President Amy McCabe sign a memorandum of understanding in mid-January, BCSC could be invited to submit an application in April. Trustees agreed Roberts should explore that possibility.
Debbie Blank can be contacted at 812-934-4343, Ext. 113; or debbie.blank@ batesvilleheraldtribune.com.
