D-11 closing Irving, moving students at 8 elementaries

Massive changes were approved Wednesday night for Colorado Springs School District 11, including closing seven elementary schools, moving another elementary program and closing Irving Middle School.

The D-11 board struggled through numerous motions on what to do with Wasson High School, and finally delayed a decision for two weeks. It directed the administration to work with the Wasson community to refine a recommendation for its March 11 meeting.

The Wasson delay didn't satisfy the school's lingering supporters, who had watched elementary and middle school supporters leave somberly after votes were taken to shutter their schools. Some parents vowed to move their children to another district, others left with tears in their eyes.

Eleventh-hour ideas and proposals to keep schools opened were showered on board members through emails, phone calls and faxes in recent days, and again in person Wednesday night as the board prepared to vote to overhaul the district.

Before it tackled the school closure recommendations, the board voted unanimously to name Nicholas Gledich as the new superintendent for D-11, pending the completion of contract negotiations.The vote came after board members John Gudangen and Charles Bobbitt gave glowing reports from their visit to the Orange County Public Schools in Orlando, Fla. The district advertised the position with a $200,000 salary.

Then it started on the recommendation to move students from eight elementary schools next fall. The buildings will be closed or repurposed, although many of those decisions have not been made. The vote on the elementary closure recommendation was 6-2, with members Charles Bobbitt and Bob Null opposing.

The board decided to move students from Buena Vista, Washington and Whittier elementary schools into the West Middle School building next fall. The Montessori program at Buena Vista will move into the Washington building.

Ivywild, Pike, Longfellow and Jefferson elementary schools will close, and Hunt and Adams elementary students will be combined into the Hunt building.

The first vote on school closures brought sighs and head shakes from much of the audience, many of whom left as the board took a break before tackling the next recommendation.

The vote followed an attempt by Bobbitt to remove many schools from the closure list by amending the recommendation, but all failed. During the discussion on middle schools, Bobbitt drew a round of enthusiastic applause from the audience when he moved to ensure that no students were moved to a school with lower performance than the school being closed. That amendment, too, failed. Other board members said the district's job is to ensure that all schools perform at high levels.

After defeating a series of motions that would have given Irving a temporary or permanent reprieve, the board decided to proceed with a decision made in December to take over Emerson Middle School, which has been run as a charter school, and create a space/technology school there. The back and forth over which middle school to close -- and when -- kept a dozen people from Irving on pins and needles as they continued to hope the school would be spared.

In the end, the board voted 4-3 to close Irving at the end of this school year and keep Emerson open. Board members Bobbitt, John Gudvangen and Sandra Mann opposed the motion. It later voted to have all three grade levels at Emerson in the fall, running the seventh and eighth grade as traditional curriculum and beginning a space/technology curriculum with the sixth grade.

The board also approved recommendations to move the Bijou Alternative School into the Whittier building, to complete a plan by April to redraw boundaries for the fall because of the closures and to cut at least $1 million from administration.

The board unanimously approved recommendations for the reuse of several school buildings as follows:
• Move the Montessori program into Washington Elementary, effective in August.
• Move the hearing impaired program that's now in Jefferson to Stratton Elementary.
• Move the adult education program from Hunt to Jefferson.
• Move the home school program from Audubon to Jefferson.
• Work with GLOBE Charter School to use one wing of Longfellow.
• Develop a plan to move the AERO administrative department out of leased space by Aug. 1.

The board also voted to direct the administration to undertake numerous studies, some quickly and others over the next year. The studies include such things as the feasibility of combining the two night schools into one program, the feasibility of having kindergarten through eighth grade programs at some schools, working with various community groups to develop partnerships and examining how specialized programs feed from one level to the next.

Deputy Superintendent Mike Poore said the administration has been contacted by various community groups that are interested in using space in the schools that are being closed, or sharing space in those that are remaining open. For example, the Colorado Springs Children's Chorale and Youth Symphony are interested in sharing space at Wasson, which would have room regardless of what the board decides in March, Poore said.

About a dozen or so people pleaded with the D-11 board to delay its decision about school closures, and several suggested alternate courses for re-evaluating the way the district educates children.

Kimbra Smith, an assistant professor at UCCS, asked to be given time to expand a partnership program now at Hunt Elementary School to other schools in the district. Dave Munger, president of the Council of Neighbors and Organizations, asked for more time for residents and business leaders to assist the district.

And others simply pleaded for the board to spare their neighborhood schools.

County Commissioner Sallie Clark and City Councilman Jerry Heimlicher both asked the board to delay its decisions, saying they do not believe the public process has been adequate and the plan has too many unanswered questions.

"I'm asking for more time for the district to work with city to see if we can reduce impact on neighborhoods because it's going to be devastating," Heimlicher said.

About 25 students holding signs in an effort to keep their schools open greeted dozens of people as they arrived at the D-11 meeting.

The students were mostly from Washington Elementary School, but also held signs protesting the possible closure of Adams Elementary.

After the meeting adjourned, top administrators were meeting to put an action plan in motion to inform school communities of the next steps. Superintendent Terry Bishop said principal meetings were scheduled for this morning, and work was under way on memo's that would go home to parents.

"This has been a long process, and it's been difficult for students, staff, communities," Bishop said. "There is no more difficult of a situation than dealing with school closures. But I believe what we have done is best for district and will allow us to remain competitive. I believe District 11 will bounce back better than before."

He said the transition process begins immediately with the goal of having happy and satisfied students when they walk through the door of their new schools in the fall.