South Bend Tribune invites public to community conversation about school consolidation
SOUTH BEND — Education leaders and community members will join The Tribune for an online forum April 13 to discuss the future of the South Bend school district.
The conversation will begin at 5 p.m. on the Tribune's Facebook page and will feature six panelists familiar with the South Bend corporation's recent study of buildings and recommendations for consolidation.
Consolidation explained: A look at when South Bend schools will merge
The district has been exploring the issue for years and made "right sizing" the under-enrolled district a promise of its 2020 referendum.
In March, consultants with the educational planning firm HPM and architecture firm Fanning Howey brought recommendations to close Clay High School on the north side and Warren Elementary on the far west side.
They also provided suggestions for how to realign student feeder patterns and create new K-8 school opportunities serving each region of the city.
Public hearing: How to share opinions on proposals to consolidate, close Clay
The South Bend school board is expected to vote on a series of recommendations in a 5:30 p.m. meeting April 17 at LaSalle Academy.
The Tribune's education forum will feature the following panelists:
Kareemah Fowler is the assistant superintendent of business and finance for the South Bend district and has worked with consultants throughout their recent study of South Bend facilities. She served as South Bend city clerk beginning in 2015 until joining the school district in 2019.
Stuart Greene is a professor emeritus with Notre Dame's departments of English and Africana Studies. He was elected to the South Bend school board in 2018 and re-elected to his second term last fall. He represents South Bend's District 5, encompassing much of Clay Township.
Alfred J. Guillaume Jr. served as executive vice chancellor for academic affairs at Indiana University South Bend from 1999 to 2013. He concentrated his tenure on curriculum and operational strategies, student development and academic programs. Guillaume serves on the board of several organizations and is a member of Faith in Indiana and 100 Black Men of Greater South Bend.
Oletha Jones served on the South Bend school board from 2019 through 2022. She represented the corporation's District 2, which stretches south and east in the the city, including the areas closest to Riley High School. Jones has served as education chair of the South Bend chapter of the NAACP and is active in the group Community Action For Education, or CAFE.
Alma Powell is an educator and public speaker whose career includes teaching and administrative positions. She was the first African American woman principal in South Bend schools, and played a major role in the district's desegregation efforts. She taught future teachers and principals as an adjunct professor at Indiana University South Bend and Goshen College, and retired in 2002 as the director of curriculum and instruction for Elkhart Community Schools.
Wendy Wilson is a writer and editor who relocated to South Bend with her family in 2015. She is a mother of three — all of whom attended South Bend schools following the move — and she happily counts two as graduates from Adams High school (classes of 2019 and 2021); the third finishes in June.
Follow along live and share your questions for panelists beginning at 5 p.m. April 13 on The Tribune's Facebook page at facebook.com/southbendtribune.
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: South Bend Tribune forum to feature discussion of school consolidation
