South Bend school board votes to close Clay High School, consolidate district
SOUTH BEND — Clay High School will close in the summer of 2024.
After many months of study, board members for the South Bend school district voted 4-3 on Monday night to adopt a long-term plan to reshape Michiana's largest school district, bringing the corporation down from four high schools to three.
Among key elements of the plan are decisions to close Clay and Warren Elementary as the district establishes new geographic feeder boundaries and offloads underused buildings to account for years of declining student enrollment.
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Trustees Stephanie Ball, Kate Lee, Leslie Wesley and John Anella voted for the plan, which includes a guidance document developed by consultants with the firms HPM and Fanning Howey. Trustees Stuart Greene, Jeanette McCullough and Mark Costello voted against consolidation.
"I think we need a plan. What we have is a roadmap, a blueprint for the future," said Greene, who represents Clay Township. "We have that, but we need to know something about implementation."
The recommendations moved forward after McCullough attempted to table the plan. Two other board members — Greene and Costello — voted with her, but the motion failed with a lack of a majority support. Trustees spoke at great length Monday night before taking their vote during a marathon meeting that extended on for about four hours. Costello alone spoke for nearly 45 minutes on his lack of support for closing Clay.
"It was a practical business perspective that leads me to have confidence in our third-party, outside contractor," said Ball, who favored the recommendations. "Their job was to provide an objective viewpoint on how we as a board and as a community could effectively utilize our public resources and provide the board guidance on how we can align our academic vision with our research."
The South Bend district has lost more than 1,700 high school students alone over the last 17 years, leading to a $12 million drop in the district’s annual education budget. Administrators, further, have looked to plug a hole of more than $19 million in annual operating revenues after recently imposed tax caps took effect.
The district has taken some recent action, closing or repurposing seven schools since 2018, and moving this winter to close a $2.8 million sale to the city on its downtown administration center.
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The decision also comes as the district tries to proactively plan for its future amid an uncertain landscape of changing state education funding proposals and following the announcement of multiple new charter schools, all vying for the same students, to open in South Bend this fall.
Consultants are recommending the district move Clay High School's fine arts magnet program to Riley High School. They say it would cost $16.2 million to keep the school open over the next five years and expect closing it could save $1.1 million in annual operating costs.
The district passed a $54 million capital referendum in 2020, with a promise of using $34 million to "right size" the district, and began collecting money in 2021. So far, the district has taken on some deferred maintenance and secured entryway projects, but about $30 million remained to be budgeted ahead of the facility planning.
The recommendations adopted Monday night call for $39 million in near-term investments to pay for high-priority projects throughout the coming consolidation. Consultants proposed a redrawing of district boundary lines for elementary, middle and high schools to help more clearly align feeder patterns. The plan, however, is to be considered a guidance document and could change over time.
The steps, also, may not be the last ask of the South Bend district in terms of funding. Short-term costs center on renovations necessary to repurpose certain buildings as they take on new students and programs during consolidation. Consultants calculated an additional $300 million could be needed to address routine and deferred maintenance across the district over time.
The school board's resolution Monday night included the following steps to consolidate:
Close Clay High School and move its fine arts program to Riley
Demolish closed buildings, including Eggleston, old Marquette and Greene, if necessary, and portions of Brown
Complete emergency repairs not exceeding $3.4 million at Clay High School to sustain 18-24 months at building
Renovate Riley to support Clay's fine arts program
Complete prioritized deferred maintenance identified in August 2022 facility assessment
Relocate Kennedy program to LaSalle Academy
Close Warren Elementary and consolidate into Wilson and Harrison elementaries
Renovate Washington High School to accommodate its medical magnet program
Convert Edison Middle School and Dickinson Fine Arts Academy to K-8 grade
Complete facilities plan relocation management
Convert McKinley Elementary to an early childhood center
Convert Kennedy to an alternative education program
Most major changes in the district, including the implementation of new school boundaries, are not expected to take place until the start of the 2024-2025 school year.
Current and rising Clay students, for example, are expected to experience a transition over the next several years, but will be guaranteed spots within the fine arts program relocated to Riley and given priority in choosing other South Bend high schools using the district's inter-district choice policies.
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Dozens of speakers addressed the board Monday before their vote, many in support of keeping Clay High School open. One teacher challenged the board to come to the high school on Tuesday morning to explain their decision to students. Others asked that the board establish the feeder patterns proposed in the facility plan but delay closing Clay to see if a specific pathway to the school would help rebound enrollment.
In total, public comment extended more than two hours. Community members also raised concerns about class sizes following consolidation, property values in northern St. Joseph County and the uncertain future of the Empowerment Zone to which Warren Elementary belongs.
"The short-sidedness of these decisions is frankly baffling to me," said Molly White, a Clay graduate and teacher at Edison Middle School. "How are we going to be able to successfully meet the needs of all of our students if we are smushing them all in the same space and expecting different outcomes. We keep making the same mistakes over and over again."
Read South Bend facility plan recommendations:
Email South Bend Tribune education reporter Carley Lanich at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter:@carleylanich.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend board votes to close Clay High School, consolidate district
