Residents Pack SHS For School Public Forum

Dozens of parents, residents and voters packed the Salem High School Media Center Tuesday night for a public forum on the upcoming bond article for Phase II of the elementary school renovation project.

Following impassioned testimony from numerous speakers, the School Board voted 4-1 to move forward with a plan that will ask voters in March to renovate the Fisk, Haigh and Soule Elementary Schools.

At issue Tuesday were two seperate plans: one that would renovate all three schools, which would in turn mean all six elementary schools would be renovated based on this year's work at Barron, Lancaster and North Salem Elementary Schools; or one that would renovate just Fisk and Soule and likely result in the closure of Haigh.

SAU 57 Superintendent Michael Delahanty said renovating the three elementary schools would be bonded at $21.8 million while just renovating Fisk and Soule (as well as adding four rooms each to Barron and Lancaster) would be $20.3 million.

Although the long-term plans had been to renovate all six schools, School Board member Bernie Campbell's concerns over enrollment projections led to the consideration of the five-school option.

"Enrollments have been cyclical," said Sherry Kilgus-Kramer, president of local school advocacy group Strengthen Our Schools. "And they will cycle again. They will increase and we need to be able to adequately accommodate those increases."

She called the possible impact of not renovating Haigh "disastrous" and could result in the delaying of renovations of Woodbury Middle School and Salem High School.

"We need to keep on plan and build a foundation for our future," Kilgus-Kramer said.

Parent after parent came to the podium speaking in favor of keeping Haigh School going, whether it be due to quality of education or the accommodations made for students with special needs or parents with special circumstances.

"Closing the Haigh would jeopardize the passage of the Phase II bond because it would alienate the voters in the Haigh district," said Barron parent Amy Healey. "As we know from Phase I we need every parent vote we can get."

Following public comment, the board members had their say, and Campbell took time to explain his argument.

"I'm one who challenges assumptions," Campbell said, adding he had reservations about keeping Haigh going two years ago.

He said based on district projections, elementary enrollment will drop from 1,734 currently to 1,439 in 2016.

"Over 20 years we're going to spend $20 million to keep (Haigh) open, that we're not going to be able to spend on renovating (SHS) or the middle school," Campbell said.

Ultimately the board voted 4-1 to move ahead with a bond to renovate the three elementary schools, with Campbell the only member in the minority.

School Board secretary Bob Bryant encouraged parents to work hard to get the bond passed this year.

"Let's see if we can really rock this thing and make sure that all the taxpayers understand this is what the school district and the parents want," Bryant said. "You are the largest voting block."