South Dearborn Board Won't Close School... Yet

By Mike Perleberg The South Dearborn Community Schools Board of Trustees, seen here at a June 10 meeting, will not hold a vote on the proposed closure of a school. Photo by Mike Perleberg, Eagle 99.3. (Aurora, Ind.) - Moores Hill Elementary School will be spared, at least for another year. The South Dearborn Community Schools Board of Trustees has been considering whether to close the school starting in the 2016-2017 school year and ship students there elsewhere. The cost-cutting measure was considered as the district deals with an ongoing downward enrollment trend that is not forecast to turn around anytime soon. Enrollment in the district has fallen nearly 15 percent from an all-time high of 3,122 students in 2008-2009 to 2,656 this past school year. During a crowded work session attended by parents, teachers, and community members Tuesday evening in Aurora, SDCSC board president Bill Lane, Jr. said that the board will not vote this year on closing Moores Hill or any other school in the district. “What we’re going to do for the time being is monitor the situation. We’re going to monitor the enrollment numbers across the corporation, all the schools, and we’ll monitor the facilities and capacities and see if there is going to be any change here in the next year or so,” Lane told Eagle 99.3 Wednesday morning. Lane said the school district will work with the community to help grow the population and enrollment. He indicated that some effort would be needed on the towns’ part. “We’re going to market South Dearborn School Corporation as best we can, but we also need to have Moores Hill to have a plan of action on how they can market the town to try to bring families back out to that area,” said Lane. The board did not allow public comment at Tuesday’s meeting, however, many in the meeting audience were relieved upon hearing Lane share the board’s decision. The board had apparently heard – loud and clear – the pleas that were made at a June 24 work session at Moores Hill Elementary. “It’s a small town, personal thing for the community members who spoke. Talking with individual board members on how they thought about it, it really just kind of changed the feeling for some of us thinking it may be a better option to hold off for a while here and see if a change can be made,” Lane explained. Lane, a Moores Hill resident himself with a son who just finished the sixth grade at Moores Hill Elementary, said he wasn’t sure how he would have voted on the school closure had it come for a vote, but believes he would have put the proper effort into becoming educated to make the right decision. “I live there. My kids went there. My wife and her whole family, her mother and father, went to Moores Hill and graduated there,” said Lane. A school closure may still be in play eventually, but for at least another year South Dearborn Community Schools will continue operating status quo. Lane said there is no set timeline on making any decision and no meetings on the school closure topic are currently scheduled. RELATED STORIES: Passionate Moores Hill Residents Come Out To Fight Possible School Closure South Dearborn School Board Taking School Closure Conversation To Moores Hill June 24 Moores Hill School Closure Could Cost Town Identity, Loss Of More SD Students South Dearborn Schedules Meetings To Discuss Possible School Closure, Other Options South Dearborn Tracking Enrollment Decline South Dearborn Superintendent To Retire In 2018 Higher From Within: South Dearborn Picks Ballart To Lead Knights Football Comeback South Dearborn HS Names New Boys Head Basketball Coach Scholarships Granted To 43 South Dearborn Graduates Principals Offices Changing Hands At South Dearborn Schools