One base school to be closed

The Mountain Home School Board has decided to temporarily close one of the schools on base next year, and to bus approximately 90 seventh-grade students there to Hacker Middle School.

But which school will be closed has been left up to school administrator Jerrie LeFevre to select. The two possibilities are Stephensen Middle School and Liberty Elementary.

Under the plan approved by the board of trusteees last week at their regular meeting, one of the schools will be mothballed and used for storage.

The move is being prompted by state holdbacks and cuts in educational funding that LeFevre said now looks like a loss of $750,000 to the school district for the next school year.

"This decision gives us enough to start making staff and budget decisions, once we get more information on (state funding)."

"Until the legislature actually passes the funding bill, and the governor signs it, we don't really know what the funding is going to be," he said, noting that in addition Congress has not released approximately $2.5 million in impact aid money for the school district, which normally is received in December.

The money compensates the district for military dependents who do not pay property taxes. The money has been approved by Congress but its release has been frozen by President Bush.

The impact aid funding holdback may force the district to issue tax anticipation notes to cover its expenses later this year. The board authorized LeFevre last week to issue the notes if it becomes necessary to do so.

The closure of one of the schools on base, designed to cut costs, was determined because of declining enrollments at the base schools.

It will mean the middle school concept used at Stephensen, which originated the highly successful program for the school district, will be dismantled there. Whichever school remains open will house grades 4-6.

And it will force changes at the schools in town. "Hacker Middle School, as it is presently constituted, won't exist," LeFevre said. "We'll be looking at a number of curriculum changes" to accommodate the move.

The district is considering adding several temporary buildings to the Hacker playground to accomodate the additional students. It may also decide, eventually, to move the fifth grade back into the elementary schools, although that won't happen if subsequent analysis shows Hacker can handle the load. Hacker already is overcrowded, however.

Closing either Liberty of Stephensen will result in four non-teaching positions and two teaching positions being cut from the district roster. Those losses will be handled by normal district attrition. Five teachers will be moved to Hacker as part of the plan.

In addition, Stephensen Principal Al Whittikan, who has already resigned effective at the end of the year, will not be replaced.

The district also will not replace McKenna High School Principal Larry Slade, who also has resigned to create a "virtual high school." LeFevre and deputy superintendent Doug Johnson will handle administrative chores for that alternative school.

The district has offered whichever school it closes to the base, for lease on an annual basis. LeFevre said the district does not want to lease the building any longer than a year at a time "because we expect to use it again in the future."

LeFevre added that, in addition to the teaching staff and administrator cuts, that the district will cut back sharply on supplies and some vendor contracts.

"We're going to have less staff and less supplies," he said, "but we'll still provide the best education we can for the students.

"That's the goal of both the board and the Mountain Home Education Association (the teacher's union). We're trying to do everything we can to minimuze the effect on the students."

LeFevre said the district has been working closely with the teacher's union, "who understand the situation we're in." He said contract negotiations, expected to begin soon, "will likely be over relatively minor details. They're well aware of the situation we're all in," he said, praising the teachers for their willingness to help.