FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Indiana's NewsCenter) - A Fort Wayne elementary school is on the chopping block leaving parents confused and upset.
A public meeting Tuesday evening did not seem to calm them.
Fort Wayne Community Schools officials met with parents to explain why Pleasant Center Elementary is under consideration for closure.
For parents like Lori Phillips, who has had two children go through the school, closing it does not make much sense.
"I don't understand why they would shut it down. There are too many good teachers here. It's just a really good school and I'd hate to see it shut down," said Phillips.
She has lives directly across the street from the small school for 12 years. She tells Indiana's Newscenter that small classes and a excellent teachers have made a difference in the lives of her children.
Those small class sizes may be one reason why the school is on the chopping block.
Facing a $15 million budget gap, FWCS administrators are looking to trim "the big stones" as school board president Mark GiaQuinta has put it. Schools, with large operating expenses, are "big stones." Pleasant Center is being targeted because the building is being underutilized compared with the district's other buildings. According to officials, Pleasant Center is at 65% capacity. Compare that with an average of 85% at other buildings, one can see why cutting Pleasant Center out of the picture is being considered.
Pleasant Center lies on the outskirts of Fort Wayne, south of the airport off Bluffton Road. It's not a densely packed area which has allowed the 300 students at the school to remain in small classes with plenty of personal attention from teachers.
It's that aspect that parents seem so upset about losing.
"We came here to be here with these teachers who are great," explained Graydon Vanderwall who has had two children come through the school, including a daughter with special needs. "They talk about family but I think it's even more than family. These kids spend more time with the teacher in the classroom than they do at home, so they're helping us raise our kids."
If Pleasant Center should close, administrators have not said where its students would go. In the meeting, Superintendent Wendy Robinson explained that school boundary lines would be re-drawn, essentially creating new "territories" for schools. She could not answer further questions on the matter, saying officials had not yet decided how those boundaries would be re-drawn, and which schools students would be reassigned to.
That doesn't do much to assure parents like Lori Phillips, who worries how her child will get to school if Pleasant Center should close.
"He'll have to be bussed or I'll have to pick him up," she said."It will inconvenience us."
Closing the school would save the district between $400,000 and $500,000 every year. Elmhurst High School is also on the chopping block. Closing that school would save about $1.4 million.
A final decision is expected during a meeting on March 22nd.
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