Clay to close? South Bend community reacts to proposals to close north side high school

South Bend district leaders will have a press conference Tuesday afternoon to discuss recommendations to close Clay High School and redraw district boundaries. What questions would you like answered? Let the Tribune reporter Carley Lanich know at clanich@gannett.com.

SOUTH BEND — If the South Bend school board votes to close Clay High School, Chans DeVon wants to know how the district plans to bring school communities together, how they plan to avoid fights and arguments, and how they'll encourage students to keep enrolling after a space many see as a second home shutters its doors.

"Clay feels like a second home to a lot of us," said DeVon, a sophomore in the school's theater program. "That's like a whole family, a community, and just a place where just everyone feels they like belong just torn away for what? More numbers? Money?"

DeVon sat with classmates near the back of the Clay High School auditorium Monday night as consultants for South Bend schools presented their recommendations for districtwide consolidation, which included plans to close Clay and move its fine arts magnet program to Riley High School.

More:South Bend to consider closing Clay High School and Warren Elementary

From the back, the students held signs reading "Save Clay," "Go Colonials" and "We will fight for Clay" as consultants gave their presentation.

"I feel, I would like to say, pretty safe here. We're all diverse. We have a really nice community," DeVon said. "With Riley and Clay being, I like to think, kind of opposites, what does happen when two communities (are) combined without really being known to one another?"

Consultants with the education planning firm HPM and architecture firm Fanning Howey made recommendations Monday night to close Clay High School, Warren Elementary and transition several other schools for different uses.

If adopted, recommendations for school closures would not take effect until at least the 2024-2025 school year. Board members are expected to vote on the recommendations during their April 17 meeting at LaSalle Academy.

The recommendations come as the district looks to tighten up its budget amid years of declining enrollment and recently imposed tax caps. The corporation has lost more than 4,000 students over the last decade and with it, tens of millions of dollars in state education funding.

In 2020, South Bend administrators said they would set aside more than $30 million of the district's $54 million capital referendum to "right size" the district.

The district closed its Hay and Tarkington elementaries in 2021 and worked last fall to finalize a sale of its downtown administration building to the city for $2.8 million. The corporation has saved at least $400,000 in custodial, maintenance, groundskeeping and supply costs after closing Hay and Tarkington, Assistant Superintendent Kareemah Fowler said last month.

Consolidation plans presented Monday could cost the district as much as $39 million, consultants said. Moving forward with that plan without closing Clay, however, could add an additional $16 million expense over the next five years and set back plans to renovate other schools.

Dozens of parents, students and teachers attended the highly anticipated meeting. Many spoke in support of keeping the school open and specifically made note of the district's enrollment decline. Some donned yellow, white and purple t-shirts with the words "SAVE CLAY" facing the school board.

"What are we doing to find out why so many families are leaving and how can we get them back?" asked Erica Andis, a teacher at Swanson Elementary and a mom to a Riley student.

John Paczesny, who's frequently voiced concerns at South Bend school board meetings, asked how the district could justify making changes without first exploring what's causing enrollment loss, especially with neighboring charter schools opening in the fall with more than 100 students already on their rosters.

"You cannot keep spending money on a whim and a prayer" Paczesny said.

The recommendations come following nearly a year and half of facility planning. While some meetings early in the process were not open to the public, the district has invited the community to attend more recent meetings of a task force exploring the issue. Planners also recently conducted a survey with nearly 2,000 respondents providing their opinions on the district's future.

Yet attendees Monday night still had questions about transparency and community input, such as why seemingly so few members of the district's 30-person facility task force attended public meetings over the last year and how additional input would be collected before the board is supposed to vote on consolidation in April.

"It's wrong to vote on this matter at the very next board meeting," Jessica Hoover, a teacher at Darden Elementary School, told the school board. "This will not give time to fulfill your responsibility to have two-way communications with citizens and give us a chance to speak about what you're going to choose from those recommendations."

Under-enrolled:How many students attend each South Bend school?

Consultants say they plan to distribute another survey as early as Tuesday. Superintendent Todd Cummings said the district is working on two other events to allow for community feedback, but did not share dates or times for those meetings.

Board members, meanwhile, directed their attention to several pieces of state legislation that have affected school planning and made a point of emphasizing that no decisions have been made yet.

"Change is hard," Board member Leslie Wesley said. "I can't make a decision based on what's going to be for today, but I have to make a decision for what's going to be for the future."

Email South Bend Tribune education reporter Carley Lanich at clanich@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @carleylanich.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Clay to close? Community pushes back on South Bend schools proposal