Leon County School Board considers school closures
Nims, Belle Vue eyed as budget cuts loom

By TaMaryn Waters
Wednesday, April 27, 2008

School Board members have yet to decide whether to close or consolidate Leon County schools, but Belle Vue and Nims middle schools are looking vulnerable.

Three board members - Fred Varn, Sheila Costigan and Dee Crumpler - say they might not have a choice as they seek to trim $12 million from an already lean budget. The two middle schools could be on the chopping block because they have too few students for their size.

But School Superintendent Jackie Pons says he wants to avoid that fate for either school for now, and the other two School Board members are uncommitted.

Varn said he understands this is an emotional issue for parents who don´t want to see those schools disappear.

“I´m not trying to pick on the south-side schools,” he said. “I want to look at it from a business perspective.”

He told board members last week that the district must consider closing some schools that are under capacity.

The district has added resources and programs at Nims and Belle Vue and hired new principals this year, but enrollment continues to lag.

“Our concern is that we have to make the most of taxpayer dollars,” Costigan said. “We keep waiting for a population shift, and that hasn´t happened. I´ve been given no other option to our budget crisis.”

But board member Joy Bowen said she dreads the impact of closing or consolidating either school.

“If we have to close Nims and Belle Vue, that is what many people call the heart of the African-American community,” she said.

At Tuesday´s board meeting, Pons presented more than 30 positions and programs, totalling close to $29 million, that could be cut. He did not include what the district could save by closing schools.

His final recommendations are expected at the May 13 meeting, during which board members will decide whether to approve his suggestions. They could also ask Pons to determine how much could be saved by closing schools.

“If we have to close schools, it would happen at the middle-school level,” said Barbara Wills, executive director of planning and policy for Leon County Schools.

Johnetta Greene, who has a 14-year-old son at Belle Vue, said she´s praying the school doesn´t close.

She remembers when the district closed Caroline Brevard Elementary School in 2006. She was the PTO president then. She said she feels that if parents had known early enough, maybe the school would have had a fighting chance.

“To this day, it hurts me every time I pass by Caroline Brevard,” said Greene, who is the president of the Belle Vue PTO and now works as the school´s parent liaison.

She said parents need to be vocal before and during the School Board meeting if they don´t want to see the same thing happen to Belle Vue and Nims.

Nims has the lowest enrollment in the district with 331 students and the highest cost per student, at $9,036 last school year. For Belle Vue´s 511 students, it was $7,400 per student. School Board members agreed two years ago to close Belle Vue because of declining enrollment.

Merrill Wimberley, chief financial officer for Leon County Schools, said the state is cutting $5.1 million from the district. Combined with the $7.5 million in expenses the district can´t avoid, that figure reaches $12 million.

So the district will have to cut 4 percent of its $549 million budget. About 80 percent of that is for salaries and benefits.

Other districts in the state have been forced to make tough decisions, and some have opted to close schools.

“Closing schools is not an unusual occurrence, especially when you are in a financial strain like we are throughout the state,” said Bill Montford, CEO of the Florida Association of School Superintendents.

He said Volusia County has decided to close seven of its schools because of its shrinking budget.

Pons said he´s adamant about not doing that in Leon County, but it´s not all up to him.

“I´m trying to avoid that at this time,” Pons said. “Board members may not want to.”

Crumpler said he´s hesitant to make a decision just yet.

“There are political ramifications for every decision we make,” said Crumpler. “I´m extremely sensitive to this issue.”

Wills said the district has not come up with “specific cost savings” for Nims and Belle Vue if either were closed or consolidated. She said staff would prepare that if Pons´s final recommendations included closing or consolidating the two schools.

At this point, board members are willing to wait on Pons´ final list of cuts to see how deep that goes. Others are anxious to see if there´s academic progress at Nims, an F school, and Belle Vue, a D school.

“Once we find out the FCAT scores, I think that will speak volumes for Nims,” School Board member Maggie Lewis-Butler said.

Nims Principal Kay Collins said she´s determined to stay focused on her students because that´s why she came to the struggling school.

“My take on it at this point is simple,” Collins said. “There are many cuts that have been discussed. As far as I know, Nims will be opened for business.”

In the meantime, there could be other options.

Wills said the district could end academic programs such as the Academy of Academics and Technology based at Lively Technical Center. It has 230 students. Most of its services, such as GED classes, are now provided at high schools. The district also wants to cut costs at the Ghazvini Center, which serves 110 students who have been expelled from traditional schools.

But closing one academy doesn´t address the root cause of the decreasing enrollment at Nims and Belle Vue. Families are no longer living in neighborhoods that feed into those schools. Wills said there´s a projected 1 to 2 percent population growth for Leon County. Most people are moving to the north and east sides of the city, leaving many southside schools struggling.

“We have to serve the population where they are,” Wills said.

Crumpler agreed that leaner budgets will dictate that money is spent where the most students will benefit.

“The harsh reality is that our community has changed,” Crumpler said. “We can no longer afford to have schools that are 30 or 40 percent capacity.”