001entertainment foreign cope I'm an attorney with the Kansas Association of school boards and I will be acting as the chair for this public hearing I would like to take a moment and introduce the Board of Education board president Brad schermeyer board vice president Tamara Noti Dalton worth Roger Robinson Chad Rogers Allison cook and Joshua Hurley also with us this evening is superintendent Bill Lowry the purpose of this meeting is for the Board of Education to hear the rationale behind the proposed closure of the Wilson attendance Center's grades 7 through 12 and any testimony as to the advisability of the proposed closing per state law a board of edu the Board of Education by adoption oh pardon me per state law a board of education by adoption of a resolution by a majority of vote May
002close a school building at any time if the board determines the building should be closed to improve the school system of the district however prior to adopting any such resolution a hearing must be called and held on the proposal notice of hearing must be published at least once each week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of General circulation in the school district notice of this hearing was published in the Ellsworth County independent reporter on Thursday December 15 2022 and Thursday December 22nd 2022 as required by state statutes as outlined in the published notice the proposal to close the Wilson Attendance Center grades 7 through 12 is for the following reasons one the financial condition of the District Two The District's need to reduce expenses and three the districts need to gain those efficiencies which
003can be gained by closing and building at this time Mr Lowry will provide information on these reasons oh through the first three reasons the financial condition in the district cash balances for the district increase 177 thousand eight forty forty from the 2021 school year to the 2022 school year if you look on the second page I think everybody has to handouts you'll see a 10-year uh writing total and cash balances in 2012 is 3 million 547 981 it hit an high at 2015 at 4 million 281 931 last year ended in one million 167. 176. last eight years cash conferences have decreased 3 million 115 755. using a state 40 level recommended cash balances usd12 has a 5.5 percent income cash balance the state recommends 12 to 15 percent for getting cash balances our Capital
004Ally fund increased 85 360 during the 2021 school year and decreased 114 364 dollars during the 2021 school year one of the reasons is that because of social salaries benefits are paid out of now broadly and the amount of three hundred thousand dollars because there's not enough budget space in the general fund or the supplemental General plan our current debt because they at least purchase of upgrades for the former Michigan Tennis Center original amount was 820 000 on a 10-year lease the total amount of including interest is 900 947 320. we still have five payments of 94 732 remaining also 29 20 months later uh we created additional 215 000 to move the upgrades to Hollywood that has completed our Capital La also addition number two the districts need to reduce expenses decreasing cash balances
005means the districts spent more money than the total the general plan the supplemental funding and the compound like if this continues the district you can eventually have a zero for cash balances a comparison to be a personal savings account that you have and you had to use your savings account each month eventually this has a negative result decreasing cash balances creates a hardship on the district for cash flow purposes we receive no income for the supplemental jail plan or accountable Ally until mid-j where taxes come in the December 10th collection we also put in our special education assessment before we get our first payment for special education in October our current last July cash balances represented 11.5 of over a total 21-22 expenses on average we spend nine percent of our expenses each month this
006tax bounce represents one and a half months of expenses for the district in the past we've had to cut up all expenditures except those that are very essential during the month of December if expenses are reduced Capital Lottery could effectively be used to properly maintain buildings they have the routine maintenance and improvements were completed and they are scheduled we've had a two-year increase in our cash balance system Food Service program due to the fact that we see pre-status reimbursement for all students the past few years the reimbursement is 4.45 a meal we charge 2.60 for k-6 and 2.86 or 712. we are about a 45 degree in the school district increase with the game of agencies the district would have to pay could could not pay the soda salaries and benefits out of town Halle
007and this would allow the districts to properly maintain our facilities we can now recruit maintain how to qualify teachers for our students what reason is the base pay for teachers is one of the lowest in our region in the state along without building our teaching positions we cannot go our classified positions but they gave efficiencies we will be able to recruit and retain highly qualified teachers and staff we gave deficiencies and district and filled our cash balances back to the recommended 12 to 15 percent we can pay off our lease purchase and pay for our improvements and not use lease purchases the next part comes from uh which I need to explain there are two billion numbers in this one complex there is a Pre-K six building number and a 712 building number so there's
008two buildings located in this complex as we speak and that's probably been probably forever I need to go back and see that I'm sure there's been two members as long as his first thing in existence the total for the 21-22 state local expenditures I get remove all federal expenditures because of most of that is uh the escrow funds that are one-time money which distorts a little bit of this thing so this is just State local expenses at the total for Wilson 712 was 19 21 000 32 dollars statue was 778 398 her salaries and benefits estimated savings would be in my opinion again this is an opinion that I have uh I don't think anybody can determine the cost until after the fact but it's 575 000. Capers I believe that savings would be sixty
009thousand student Athletics which is just the the pound for transportation uniforms supplies because the supplemental summers are in the first one their salaries that benefits would be 30 000 that would be an estimated savings that they're in southern the remainder of 91 654 there's several small items slides and utilities and I believe that it's estimated savings would be 35 000 with a total estimated Savings of seven hundred thousand the next information I have the it's called Lea boards on the top this is exchange important it also is for the statement of the sector uh determines the cost per pupil per building we follow the guidance from the end of the district court we have to use the numbers that they have returned to the district court to something that we don't have any uh latitude
010to do something different this is prescribed by the state so the last page is on attendance Center's cost of people 21 22 in the state local expenses 75.5 students building costs 1 million 68 390 average cost of student 14 151 proceeding 712 63 students building costs one million twenty one thousand thirty two average cost per student sixteen thousand two hundred seven constantly both the fitness centers together 138 3.5 students cost is two million eighty nine thousand four forty two average cost fifteen thousand eighty six per student 190.7 students building costs one million 612 000 572 average cost per student eight thousand four fifty six percent 7 12 118 students it only costs 1 million 637 702 for an average of 13 879 total of 308 students don't cost 3 million 250 000 274 for an
011average of 10 529 percent taking both attendance centers and putting them together we have 3K 266.2 students building across 2 million 689.62 with an average of ten thousand seventy one per student instead of 12 181 the only costs 2 million 658 734 with 18 689 percent we have a total of 447.2 students with the cost of 5 million 339 000 696 our district average is 11 941. High School will always be higher than orders just because of activities and animals just so you know state aid is 4846 per student USD went total average is one rated student per student so we get to count two students per student at USC 112 which is give another 4846 for a total statement per student with 9692. our supplemental general fund Capital Ila and federal funds makes up
012in these costs last year on September 2020 22 which is this past September I've auditing enrollment which means the same time it's our enrollment to the finalize our budgets so this is unaudible that's what we have at this point Wilson prepaid 87 of 11.5 Wilson 7-12 73 of 10. Simple Plan is Pre-K 6 203 of 13 central place 712 140 of 22. my the preschool I believe we added three-year-old preschool program if we get money for some of those they are a halftime student that's out of it but in if they qualify for address and I think that opportunity to some of our Elementary uh going up and that is all the information I had thank you Mr Lowry now if any member of the public would like to address regarding the closure of the
013Wilson Attendance Center for 8 7 through 12. they may do so in the following manner upon your name being called please approach the podium and state your name and address for the record please speak clearly into the microphone so everyone can hear please Focus your comments on whether the closing of the school building will improve the education opportunities for students and remain respectful if you fail to abide by these guidelines your turn will be ended I'm going to do my best to read people's handwritings and to pronounce people's names correctly I apologize in advance if I'm unable to do something okay first up is Susan Phelan [Music] turn it away you know that was me I didn't know y'all um my name is Susan thielen and I live at 19939 Hunger I live on a
014farm north of Florence and have had the privilege of working in education for over 40 years during this time there have been lots of changes in the school environment and I would like to share some history with you Doris who has originally a part of USD 407 rest of school district after a choir that burned the High School Lincoln is for Clinton Township and the USD 320 a was done a K3 building and a 712 building we're located in Wilson a 4-6 building was located in Joanna when USD 328 built new buildings communities of Wilson endurance on K-12 building in a smart decision that felt that the K-12 building was the way today when Claflin approached USD 328 District many of us had our clouds but decided a larger visitor after working to bring flatlin
015in Community military with the plans of the school board to close the Wilson 7-12 building now I would like to address three issues concerning education of students ministers education is my passion safety and Logistics thinking outside of the box and vegetables this is a large district with several communities we live in the North West Point of USB 112 close to Wilson Lake my concern about lessons 7th through 12th grades do 7 through 12th grade school students took her grades you know students to classroom is that it just doesn't make sense most students can attend another facility that would be fewer miles and we have looked at the number of miles and the number of minutes that travel to various schools did you know you can look at it on your map so I did my
016grandchildren could go to Russell 18 miles in 19 minutes Sylvan Lucas 23 miles and 24 elsewhere 29 miles and 29 minutes Victoria 32 miles and 30 minutes okay and services Central Plains 33 miles and 39 minutes my grand granddaughter made a comment to Mr grandma that will be about and a way of saying every time we have five other schools that they had the kid attends and unless it's time characters safety of our students is initial I know the south at Central Plains is very qualified that is not an issue safety and time another concern our students are required to get themselves to the bus stop endurance or the school involvement will country students in Wilson endurance be picked up at their home as they are in the south I would like to ask the
017school board to think outside of the box in educating those advice the configuration community and the configuration committee looked at many different scenarios some of these included both schools thinking schedule so teachers could be shared putting four or five students on the road making wet teachers on the road makes way more sense than putting 80 students many school districts have gone to a four-day school meeting this appears to save 25 school districts some money technology allows education to be creative I taught during covet I never knew what technology it can offer us having looked into everything technology offers education before we disposable change is opportunity I hope that you're not missing and finally and most important our students we have these students on a parole of poster many of them have questions I hope each
018of you are making decisions based on facts yes but also what is the best before education of our students thank you I would ask the control school buildings our motto every student every chance every day [Applause] foreign [Applause] to give up their time have you signed up to speak okay what is your name the five-minute rule was put into place before the hearing everyone knew the rules we're going to stick to the five minutes and if you're going to donate your time to someone you're going to have to say that up front so is there anyone else who wants to donate their time your name ma'am anyone else attention okay yeah okay so I have Amy and Darcy yielding time if you're going to donate your time if you could please come up to the
019microphone and declare that for the record please foreign [Music] anybody that needs it foreign [Music] foreign Roberta Meyer I'm a private educated from I taught all my time with the voice Kansas um I just want to ask the Lord first of all do you remember the student memory to the board 4 11 22 22. okay do you remember the student video whether or to the board chair that the able board meeting was that impressive or not that sure it was shared with me and I was so impressed nice job kids nice job Mrs Holland and there's been so many good teachers that are worried about their roles hopefully that video isn't the only positive thing that comes out of all this that video should be used as a marketing tool for this area I wanted
020to come to the school after viewing it and I did I came to the December board meeting but you should post that video you should sell your school your community and your future you have some amount to be proud of in the small communities it is so short-sighted to think that clothing would make you stronger unless you're afraid of closing yourself that won't last long collaboration between north and south is what you we all desire are you really capitalizing or working together or is it who's the Last Man Standing that's important in wrestling but I I challenge you to look up The Acacia classifications online we are the smallest tool 1A can you afford to be smaller but that doesn't mean I would sort my kids in school but we've had short kids I taught
021fourth grade for a while short kids and I say you are small and mighty I am talk is and they say well you can be large and in charge but respect other people's needs be polite I encourage the Clapping kids to collaborate online with Wilson students to create a More Beautiful video than what was presented last in April it can be done the technology is there if you want them to see succeed in line they will have to collaborate online and compromise all the time thank you for listening and I get to speak again too [Applause] anyways yeah okay Sarah you're next on the list and you've given your time is that correct okay oh Amy okay good evening my name is Sarah I seen second Road Wilson I spoke with the last board meeting
022and had many Financial questions very few of these items have been addressed even up till now the only response I received that was not a form letter was from one board member who indicated that no financial information could be put together and yet the stated reasons for the hearing tonight or financial condition of the district the district's need to reduce expenses and the districts need to gain efficiencies which can be gained by closing the building can someone please explain to me how we can claim financial reason without any financials being put together I reviewed a copy of what Mr Lowry presented tonight earlier today those members were not finalized until this morning interesting considering financial reasons have been claimed since April of last year when this all started I can understand the needs of living
023financial reasons that were recently at home what I cannot understand is why the only option we're looking into to fix these issues is closing Wilson High School these are district-wide problems what is the root of the problem when bushing was closed there were several scenarios on the table there was around six months of information gathering and there was even an unbiased outside party who looked over the financials and put together a presentation why is this being railroaded through are there other options and what are the cross savings there were 700 000 of estimated savings by closing Wilson High School and Mr lowers report however there's nothing mentioned about reduced revenues on the last payment documentation it shows a loss of one student from Wilson 7 through 12 next year to date Ellsworth high school has
024received out of District requests from 19 Wilson High School students for the Ellsworth independent reporter That's not including any that intend to attend Sylvan Road or other schools we can go back and forth about what we think will happen but I think we can all agree that there will be a lot of important just one student so what about decreased revenues how much students lost from the district withstand before they saved expenses are less than lost Revenue or even a break even the loss of jobs students Etc all for us to end up at the same place financially at the end of the day what about increased expense for transportation increasing need for teachers at Central Springs High School especially if you're using the methodology that you're only losing one Wilson High School student therefore
025we'll still have utility costs maintenance costs upkeep costs Etc Mr Lowry stated in a previous meeting that the savings would be used to increase teacher salaries so is it really savings or are we sacrificing jobs and careers for some teachers for the gain of others I re-ran some scenarios based on the updated Prosper people members the Mr Lowry distributed in the packet of information I have a copy of each of you today this video while I personally don't believe that closing a high school is our next step at either end of the district why would you not choose the option that gets our Prosper people below the state aid number in our buildings I acknowledge that there's some nuances to this for increases for expenses that are transferred here and there which you can see
026in the bottom right corner transporting Central Plains High School to Wilson bring the cost per fuel to 8 100 and 8 400 in each building there's no other scenario that does that it has each buildings along with the stated number like I said I acknowledge there's information that I don't have there but we should be looking at everything before looking at closing High School also recognize that from the first iteration of that document that was published earlier the federal lead amount of 2 328 was removed which was clearly addressed earlier wouldn't it be great if we could grow our cash balance rather than cleaning it by being under all of the state and federal aid numbers I know several Beyond this board have business businesses of your own ask yourself if these numbers were for
027your personal business would you be making the same decision this district is a business and needs to be run as such I highly doubt you'd be comfortable making any decisions with the current lack of information I sure would not offer my own business this is a longevity concern for the entire District as a whole does anyone want to be back sitting at this table in a year in two years five years it is your duty as a board member and a lucky reference over there to do all due diligence to make a long-term decision I truly believe that we can be better together but we need to investigate more than one option to save businesses I see the need to look at these things but more than one Avenue should be considered thank you for
028your time [Applause] thank you foreign [Applause] Collins and Amy you yielded your time okay Darcy mopat healed Michelle Brooks and I am stepping up here to speak um because I want to make a demonstration um to all of you to understand you guys are speaking about uh finances and I think we really need to look at this as well Public Service Financial talk I don't think I can top that but I do have a demonstration to show you something at one of the board meetings Mr Lowry said that closing the Wilson 7-12 building would save the district six hundred thousand dollars so that would last for maybe two years because I can guarantee you a minimum of 50 kids from the school will not go itself and um at twelve thousand dollars per head that's
029six hundred thousand dollars so in two years you'll be actually back to break even and not at anywhere so I would like all of the junior high and high school students in the cab to stand up please foreign [Applause] okay so this is roughly a number of people in our school my demonstration is going to be this if you plan to go to the central plains high school next year remain standing okay [Applause] you'll not get all of the students you think you're getting I'm sorry and this is not just a north south pink it's a logistical thing much of what Sarah spoke about with transportation and whatnot there are other options to save our district and if you do close this Attendance Center you are going to be signing the death warrant of this
030District because you will be losing all of those students and all of the ones coming up because they will not go south because it just is not legit logistically feasible for our families we need to find other options for this District find other ways of cutting Corners saving money why did we need to spend 40 000 on a chain link fence around the football field really wasn't necessary there is a lot of other expenses that could be approached and addressed that could be lessened other um I think Susan was the one that made the comment about sharing teachers and putting teachers on the road versus the students makes a lot of sense to me but I heard last spring many teachers from the Central Plain School refusing to come up to Wilson to teach again
031another cost savings would be the district's office we have a an office here in the Wilson School open we could easily admit that district office there but again our secretary refused to come up here and was going to quit in our uh superintendent would not give up her so um these are just some things and places where we can save money we're still spending what was it eight hundred thousand dollars on a building we don't even own anymore on leases does that make sense what can we do to save money we have to rent buildings to have practices for our sports teams on the south end but we have to pay the utilities on those buildings these are areas where we can try and come up with ways of saving money so anyways please just
032look at those numbers a little bit more of that I think there are other options than closing a building I would like to thank you all for your time Mr Lowry thank you for the numbers you put together I would really like to know where the expenses came from what made up those numbers that you put in here saying well this is case six expensive building cost 1 million 68 390 for the Wilson school what went into those numbers and I don't care what a cost per student is I want to know how much money we're bringing in and how much money we are spending what's the and if the bottom number is a positive number there's no reason to close the school that means that the expenses and problems are someone else than in
033this school building so I would really like to see those numbers if they could be presented to us all of them in detail and I would like to see those same numbers for this Outlets please thank you everyone have a lovely evening [Applause] hey I have it down that Corey yielded his time is that correct Kenny yielded is that correct throw away right now okay all right Troy wants to speak next to go for it thank you and thank you somewhat in generalities because I've been in the state legislature now for starting my sixth session uh this Monday this coming Monday and I've represented Central Plains over the entire 10 years that I've learned about spoken so far but with redistricting I acquired Ellsworth County into the 109th Kansas house district and so this is
034somewhat important to me because I spend a lot of time in the community of Wilson most recently I just helped secure a grant with the Department of Commerce for the chef opera house which was actually administered and announced earlier this month but the entire tenure that I have been in the legislature one thing has always been extremely important and that has been rural Economic Development and obviously I represent a very rural part of the state I have to combat some of the ideology with the legislators that are from Johnson County and consecutive County who don't understand the rural way of life and the rural way of life is basically based on the anchors that are in our communities and one of those angers is education when you take that anger away and it makes Economic
035Development extremely difficult and a small world community and I would speak from example I've watched two consolidations and closures one town actually lived in where they closed the school and right now there is hardly any Economic Development activity going on in that community they're trying to generate tourism but without that anchor there it makes it nearly impossible the other community I think it was kind of the mission by Leading the previous speaker that the anticipation was that the students would be attending the school district in which they were enveloping and they closed the school hoping that those students will go there but that wasn't the case they were actually in the middle between two communities and actually the majority of those students decided to go to another community and not the school district that actually
036closed to school now I understand your position my wife serves as a board member on USD 407. and there are many times when I had meetings in Topeka and I get reports and spreadsheets in regards to the papers notification when I'm texting her asking her exactly what is UST 407 doing because I'm not seeing any of their items listed on the particular spreadsheets with reports that I've been I'm being handed to but the other thing that I've also been talking to her about is being and looking towards the future each fourth-minded right now we have a lot of smaller communities who are looking at different Avenues and ways and Pathways of trying to maintain their schools I for example I could look at the northern part of Russell southern part of Osborne and also Lincoln
037counties all three counties are in my district but at some point they're going to have to look at some different idea or Paradigm of looking towards the future I know we get caught up in the moment of what's happening in the present and what the numbers are right now but you also need to look at the future and look forward I I totally agree with the previous speaking and I think it was evident by the presentation of the students that may not attend Central plans they called they won't which means after two years this school district is going to be losing more money I don't want to see this little close I don't want to see the high school closed in Wilson I would hope that you would look forward and not look at the
038moment but look towards the future now there has been the talk about finances and I will pull out one of the spreadsheets that was handed to me because I serve as the vice chair of the legislative budget community and this is the safe and secure schools granted for a fiscal year 2022 and 2023. these are upgrades that begun to the school to provide security and safety for the students nowhere on this report is USD 112. so when you talk about the finances but this is five million dollars that has been allocated by the Kansas State Legislature for the last five years over the last fiscal year there are not USD 112 is not showing up on the support of even applying for a grant for the Station security schools Act this is basically free money
039I just wish that when you look at the possibility of not closing the high school because in a few years if you close the high school you'll be looking at the grace movements thank you as I mentioned before I have been a huge advocate for Rural Economic Development you take that anchor out of a community and the community is going to suffer thank you [Applause] [Music] foreign Michael I had you down next did you yield your time is that correct okay Josh good evening my name is Josh and I am an attorney from Topeka Kansas 900 South Kansas Avenue Topeka and I represent several people that you've already heard from tonight and that you will maybe hear from uh throughout the night in the challenge of this proposed board action to close the Wilson School
040Attendance Center I appreciate the information that was provided by this last week pursuant to our open records act request by it's not important Clerk and School staff have provided much of the information that we had requested obviously because we know some of that we're still looking for and we think is material to a consideration not only of this board but the public we've heard a lot of things tonight as far as the defense uh the public policy considerations that have been part of this process so far we've heard terms like railroaded rushed through we've heard about the financials provided tonight not only being finalized for the first time today after months and months of having the ability to make this case to the public we're finally getting some of the information in summary form now
041we've heard that the financials are being used as a pretense but there are actually different ways to look at the the financials that would make more sense to send students to Wilson we've heard about selling your school marketing your school versus selling out your community you've heard about a lack of due diligence and now just now we've heard about a conscience failure to apply for free state money that could be used to buttress the bottom line and so is the question tonight in that regard a question of facility operation or is it question of management effective management all of these things will be considered at the public uh at this public hearing I'm at further board meetings but it's my purpose here tonight not to make that case to you because ultimately my job is
042to make the case to the courts and to um the people and Advising my clients and the citizens of this school district to explore their legal options should you choose to rush this through and close the school building despite the lack of due diligence so I wanted to outline those for you tonight rushing this through instead of looking at management instead of looking at ways of um of a cutting that doesn't require the destruction of the Mainstay in this community public school system um is the is the first step and I would argue that there's no reason to rush this through if you look at the numbers provided tonight on the third page since the Indian cash balance has been relatively stable sure it goes down 100 degrees back up 146 down 157 down 177
043but in actuality the average of those years is around 1 million two hundred and seventy one thousand so really the difference in 2022 uh from that is only 104 000 we've seen much bigger uh jumps down and frankly in 2020 we saw it jump up 146. so there is no sense of urgency yes there's a recommendation when it comes to the Kansas Association of school boards at the State Board and providing a recommendation and ending balance but you've been operating below that for for at least six years and so as you explore ways of finding a manageable and a sustainable cash balance cutting off your nose to spite your face really will and ended not just the destruction of the Wilson communities but also the entire District yeah that's not just in in the form
044of prophecy that's also in the form of uh the mechanisms that the citizens have to force other legal results other than the school building closure so my clients are prepared to circulate a petition um availing themselves in the process in KSA 72 the 634 that would disorganize this school would require 20 of the of the vote of last general election for school district and that would force the issue to the voters of USD 112. so instead of that nuclear option of forcing this to the State Board where this entire District would be looking for homes somewhere else we encourage you and we demand that you you slow down you look at the public policy and have the public policy debate it should have started months ago it's being had tonight and engage in the black
045red numbers with the public be transparent don't require the nuclear option to the extent that that's required after a school board or School building closure a court in determining what assets and what ending balances goes with various parts of the territories of this District to new districts we're taking to the fact that it was mismanagement to close a school only to have it reopen when it's transferred to another District so my clients plan on bringing legal remedies there is a way to prevent that prevent the bone on bone nature of litigation there's a way to prevent the nuclear actions by actually coming to the table and I've submit that as the ending cash balance has been over the past five years stable work on those numbers work there with the public to save not only
046a school but a community there's a mechanism obviously for transferring territory out of the school district that can be explored there's obviously belt tightening but can I add to just a close I'd like to add one more phrase to the list of phrases I started with railroaded rushing through selling out your community diligence and that phrase is arbitrary and capricious that's what a judge is going to be looking we have to go to court office arbitrary capricious so the record needs to be filled with not only the public comment tonight with your due diligence that should start tonight and we would respectfully but um strenuously ask you to table any vote on this and tell the the either the financials can be explored with the public policy considerations tonight that cannot be recently or until
047the results if the board is set on on closing a the school at some point in the future until the results of an election that would disorganize this school district and over for another school that may be able to manage school buildings better could keep Wilson school building thank you [Applause] foreign [Music] each other bring it closer okay all right hello I'm your opponent and I am in our media technology broadcasting unit our teacher tell us that we should be unbiased in our report prior to the April 2022 school board meeting two students in our reporting sent out a survey to the current series to see how many people and how many students want to go to City points at that time pretty soon said that they would attend the Schoolcraft we know that that
048time in 10 months since students and their parents have had many discussions about Wilson School closure and the best place to attend school if Wilson were to close it is sad that these discussions have had to happen but families and what is important for the school it is important for the school choice to match what families and students need thank you today let me check the numbers again we just we did this show the students cannot be identified 10 or in private space when given their agents we give students support choices the First Choice decision made second choice decision-making decision not made may be decorated a fourth choice this is not made but not going to several points we put in the control factors like we learned in science students were in private when choosing
049there was there were assured that any answer was correct an adult took of the picture and did not allow did not allow any interference each student was explained that what each choice was also it was assured that each student had in fact had a discussion with their parents we kept the score as they went it's okay oops foreign there are currently 67 students in grade 6 through 11. six percent or four students have noted they will vote for Central claims and 94 or 63 students noted that they will not be going to Temple Run we do know that these are still reported Finance we had no idea okay next is Michelle a brokish I'm a celebration from Wilson don't have a lot um new to emphasize what has been said that here um I guess
050something that I'd like to to put forth though and when I address you all in the November meeting the way I started it was there's no secret that there's there's not a lot of love lost between the North and South and that's gone for years and years and years okay that's not okay that's not what these decisions are about and and so I want to reiterate that when students stand up and then they sit down and say I'm not going to Central Plains guys we're not saying that a lot of animosity we're not saying that out of hate I hope it goes back to what Susan said goes that's what somebody said there's a simple logistical reality in this District this District came together years and years ago if I'm not mistaken it started with
051Wilson and Hollywood and it's it's just grown from there at that time Wilson Hollywood could help each other but it made sense to have separate schools it didn't make sense for them to be together as the districts had spanned out it still makes sense for there to be two schools okay when I go down um when I go to clock when I drive to Hutch whatever and I say it every time and my husband Paul gets tired of me anytime we're driving down that laptop I said see look at the elevators this makes sense Lots on Hollow rig Bush and Lorraine makes sense and that's great I'm glad you guys are together Wilson doesn't fit in that simply based on Logistics not in day-to-day every day travel that road with kids it just doesn't fit
052okay so again this isn't anything this isn't an animosity thing this is a simple logistics thing where I am coming from so with that I looked at Mr Lowry's numbers today um now I would have to change my numbers based on what the kids just showed because they showed I believe four kids that said yes we would go to um Central Plains So based on the numbers that Mr Lowry sent out he showed it 21-22 FTE at Wilson of 138.5 foreign unaudited enrollment shows 160. okay that's an increase at 21.5 students now I know you qualified that but there's some um some monies for pre-k free that kind of thing but still that's an increase of 21.5 students that's a 15 increase okay so when we look at those numbers that's a huge increase is
053that a trend is that misrepresented numbers who knows but that's 15 increase from last year to this year okay then I looked at the estimated savings and again the very I know they're rough I know they're rough but the numbers say a 700 000 cost savings as Sarah said this does not account for lost Revenue now I took those 72 FTE that's that's on these sheets I took the nine valve or 9 692 uh base day plus waitings and if none of the kids went that's not accounting for the four but if none went that's a 697 824 dollar lost Revenue that means we're saving 2176 dollars by doing this like everyone else I would encourage you please look at other avenues because the kid's not coming isn't because everybody's hating on each other the
054kid's not coming it's because it doesn't make sense because there are better avenues for our kids should this go forward and like others have said if this was forward and our kids leave that is a net loss for everybody one that I don't think could be come back from thank you hey guys I rejected the enrollments for 23.4 nothing changes nothing's changed so those numbers I was in 2021 and 21 22 to 20 23.4 production for next year those projected on this if nothing changes that's what we think would be in the buildings okay okay next we have serenity hello can everyone hear me okay okay my name is Serenity sanity and I'm a proud Wilson High School student I realized that my point that I'm bringing up tonight has been brought to your attention
055several times and now you will hear it again from a sophomore at Wilson High School you talk about saving money by closing down to Wilson's high school and yet you'd lose so much more by all the kids leaving the district our community has addressed all the problems and concerns and yet you give us zero answers my advice to you is that if you're going to do something that's going to change our lives have an actual reason besides we're saving money I will not be attending Central Plains next year it just goes through along with many of my peers and it's not because we're sour towards sentient planes it's because of the roads we would have to take every day and the distance short but thank you [Applause] Leland Francis as you know said they closed
056down the Torrance grade school of the Wilson school to move to this school this is actually two schools if you if you look at the comments area the high school side doesn't have any windows in the careers and it's a solid wall up there because it's a firewall it was a money-saving technique to avoid building I happen to build the overhead sprinklers so that's why there's two schools I was the last principal at the warrants in the last principal at Wilson Elementary that the information [Music] that we were building the school in the wrong place so building it here it should have been built for the old race with this well that grade school was open folks Wilson city was full of vehicles twice a day we suffered a great economy lost here we really
057do now I look at it and I I see you guys I'm not going to get the Applause well received the building must close this school I would suggestions especially Lakeside Learning Center and allow our kids to attend Lakeside Learning Center here at the school you can have this cost savings they'll probably take two teachers and a handful of days parents you could form your own home School Association have your own sports do everything you want to do they would probably work out well I know Weston I know Heartland Christian School I know a few other schools have joined the Kansas Association of approved schools they have their own state tournaments so it Sports is your issue there it is we can do it but I I really would like to see you Recon reconsider
058the idea of public school first of all you say you're going to save money I would like to know yeah we're actually saving money or not I I don't see any way that my tax payment is going to go down so to speak to a happier so I don't think we're really saving me money so and that's basically what it is I thank you for your time [Applause] okay uh Mike natashek sorry you can call me Lori cop if that would make you feel better give me just a second hey I'm Mike special um so I could talk I could talk about economic impact opposing the school will have but I think you're all aware of that but I will say that two things one is Wilson's in the community so I sincerely believe that
059even if the decision worked closed 7212 we're going to survive and we're going to growth uh also if you look at the 2012 census uh and compared to 2010 there's one community in Elton County including the county the group there's one community and that's the city of Wilson we are growing community we will continue to vote that's sincerely believe that so real quickly because I don't know how much time I have here real quickly having been in a situation a similar to one you all find yourselves in I understand what you're doing I'm not sure that some of you understand the impact or decision they have on students teachers patrons and communities I believe this has been demonstrated by the very limited open public discussions before votes were conducted where they're considered when considering combining
060extracurricular activities transferring students and ultimately eligible 7 through 12 years I recently spoke with Miss goat about tonight's meeting and she said that tonight was not about closing seven twelve school for about practice well that may be true a reminder that on March 21st 2022 Miss Dodie boo Mr Ward seconded that following unsuccessful transfer Wilson Junior Senior High School will be closed but the conclusion of 123 2023. that that vote failed for four however three board members voted in favor of closing without any apparent due diligence or fact financing following that meeting I talked to Ms scope and at least one other take your talk to Mr Rogers and we were both told that we were not at the point of closing will succeed however on April 11 2022 leave miss those improved departments consolidate
061all USB 712 students from the Central Plains Junior Senior High School classroom Mr worst again second of the motion the motion carried 5-2 do those that voted in favor of emotion I would like to know the facts what facts you base your decision on and to Ms coat and Mr Rogers specifically what additional information was discovered that resulted and changed your vote for only a couple weeks with the demonstrated track record I really have to question whether this hearing really is about fact-finding and conducting proper due diligence or just an exercise to try and appease those in attendance it'll make yourselves feel better about your previous decisions after all we only hear because it was discovered that the board and administration failed to follow a proper process for closing School if I was currently sitting
062on the board here are some things I would need to know or consider before making a decision as important as this the one current affordable all of these items will require detailed due diligence not just a quick review priorities it has been said many times by many people that the most important thing is what is best for the students at USD 112. it's closing an Attendance Center and busting kids 47 miles one way several several times a day the best thing for our students this is the same where the Muslim kids are going to clap them a platform kids are being blessed to Wilson after all this is supposed to be about what's best for the kids one of the options to brushing the kids here's what I would love to know the most obvious
063is simply maintaining two Junior Senior High Schools well that's easy to say I fully understand it's going to make it much harder to implement and after the proper due Villages leave it this may not be mild but at this point I don't believe anyone on this board knows for sure other districts have implemented such things as sharing teachers having teachers travel between attendance centers block scheduling and even four-day School weeks it is my understanding that some of these options have been brought up but have been met with resistance by some teachers and administrators and I would attend the board meetings with that third I fully admit that I know very little about such things but the fact that they are being utilized by other schools and other districts means that they can't work with all
064due respect the USD to 112 teachers and administrators reality is that they work for the district not the other way around after all this is supposed to be about what a specialty is always should the decision be made to ultimately close an Attendance Center here's what I would want to know which building provides the best learning environment which building was the oldest building in the district which usually equates to higher maintenance costs especially when the difference is about 30 years which building meets APA requirements which billing presents asbestos in lead hazards for kids and staff which building has two gymnasiums on site to better serve the student athletes and to reduce costs for the visitor in the district office be housed in the Attendance Center to reduce costs I know this is looked at but
065I always believed there were options that were ignored he's been stated by the administrator the room would be an issue if a plaque clinic for Wilson students were transferred there I don't know if this is true but do any of you know for sure if the answer is not known then it needs to each time the same may be an issue for Wilson if the Clapping student for Buster Wilson I do know that the Wilson school was built for a much larger enrollment in the Paranormal even if there's room today in either school what is the plan should the student population increase if they're going through it after all this is supposed to be about what's best for the kids financing and you know it's been explained a lot better than I can do it
066by numerous other people but it's been stated many times why at least the majority of the board that finances the driving force behind the decision to close Muslim the resolution to Coast Wilson States three reasons all Financial if you're voting or have voting to close Wilson for any other reason then you're voting is working missing piece behind this locality is the numbers of support and again as noted by numerous people some numbers came out from Mr Lauer today but they've been getting asked for for weeks and months so obviously some of you this is a minor thing since they were not needed to influence your vote proposal uh Richard the rest of us is not a minor item and as a board member I would not even enter in discussions to close a building without
067solid or detailed financial information to support such an effort Financial numbers as I mentioned Financial Financial numbers were sent out today I did not have time to digest them one thing appears to be visited is the compartment members for the district by closing Clapton and transferring students to Wilson it also as noted future projections among Mr Larry may have just explained this that 70 students will be transferring platform that's not factual which school is the most likely to have the higher highest feature costs to maintain and to make changes inspired between Ada retirements which school has the lowest utility costs what's the financial impact to the overall District following the closure of Wilson Junior Senior High School there will obviously be a reduction in overall School population surveys have indicated the majority of students will
068not attend class in school one of the estimated short-term and long-term impacts I'm sure reduction in student population would occurred if clapping students were transferred to Wilson I don't know what those numbers might be but I would guess that none of you do even a group of very dedicated and passionate patrons of the district led by Dr Brian Jordan spent months developing a configuration study that provided guidelines and proposals for moving usd-112 forward into the future it appears that this study has been largely ignored at least five of you have apparently decided that you know much better works best for the students of the district in this much larger group of concerned passionate and knowledgeable patients if that is not the case then please provide the basis we'll basically ignoring the configuration study and it
069was told to me today that the configuration there used to be on the website but it's no longer even on the website so I will ask what happened to it why isn't it on the website after all this increase both after that all this is supposed to be about what's best for the kids clothing I finally I apologize if I personally offended any board member staff member it was not my fan however you need to understand the frustration felt by so many other people here tonight and many others that were unable to attend and it's my understanding by winning the papers on the south end of the district watching votes cast and decisions made without providing any supporting information or even a comment prior to voting a certain way really brings in the question of
070motives behind such actions this is very emotional issue and anytime discussions include closing Independence Center whether it be Wilson or clapman it will be hard for people to accept it but a supporting information is presented to support those type of decisions is at least demonstrates the board that the form of proper due diligence are you sure all options have been explored and you can you clearly identify why none of those options are pleased me Wilson board members work hard to try to find a new home for the Wilson students board Administration from the district collectively assisting that effort I would suggest that you can accurately and sincerely answer the questions I've closed for you that you've done a proper due diligence the Kings after all it's supposed to be about what's best for kids this
071includes not only the Wilson students but those who wished it up thank you [Applause] don't like those things Kathy Smith did you yield yeah she did okay Mike just my name is Mike Jess when I live in Wilson Kansas and I don't have a dog in this bike I have no children I've had many in the past I'm here tonight because I have a feeling of Injustice and it's just a feeling I had thought several days ago about speaking tonight and decided against it my wife said you really don't need to do that I have a stack of folders about this tall from years past I have expenses of new school salaries put together by teachers information that leads to Wilson having been in the black and most likely still is I had people come
072to me I'm not a socialite I don't get out I hear things third hand but I heard that Wilson had grown I don't know that game and I had done the research with the U.S Census Bureau before and didn't yield much but four days ago and you can do this for yourself I punched up in Google population Wilson Kansas 2019. and it was 723. so I did the same thing population lost in Kansas 2021. and to my surprise it comes up 836. validated by the United States census group that's 113 people for two years and I thought where are they well I do know it's really important with that again farm houses we could eventually people in New Hampshire so I thought well let's look at that further so I put in population Kansas 2019.
073and it came up 600. population Clapton Kansas and it came up in 553 what those numbers represent and again you can convince yourself was that Wilson Kansas had a 16 increase of two years that really sounds unbelievable what is there in black and white take a look Clapton had an eight percent decline so I contemplated whether it's people and I could just not fathom how you shut down a stool that's in the black but the population that's increasing it makes absolutely no sense how could that be it's always population increases well let me back there as population decreases it becomes our turn so it's a consolidate I suggest it's not our turn I'm here tonight to help keep this District together not territory Wilson Kansas offers a cash cow for his district worse than Kansas
074is the only community of the district growing it is through growth that we pull out of this not to tearing down somebody else just to hop off the kids we don't need that we need your help I urge you to consider the world as the option and take a look at these populations and then the question comes well why isn't the aroma well I know uh four children that were going to come to Wilson and decided parents did not to because of the fear of clothing the fear started in the newspaper article in 2018. and it's continued since my own daughter moved away from Wilson part of the reason because it doesn't have a stable School because of all the newspaper articles the reprints so if you wonder why enrollment stand might want to look
075in the mirror five children to Russell wanted to come to Wilson and did not that represents over a hundred and twenty thousand dollars worth of income per year my uncle was an attorney for him Wichita foreign once gave me a speech I was about ready to do a business deal that involved franchising and he said sit down Mike and listen to me and he began to Freaks Like Only in the Eternal King he said now I'm going to tell you about the goose and the gander and you're going to be negotiating agreements with people from companies and when you're negotiating agreement the way you know if it's a good agreement because when you can pick yourself up from your chair and go to the other side of the table and the other side of the
076agreement and accept it you haven't been a dream it's called good things that's good for the game so as we move forward together I would suggest we become transparent and we use the good for the good good for the ganders if you want to close the school be willing to go to the other side of the table and be closed so don't vote [Music] because it's not a good deal Joe said my uncle he still goes downtown Wichita these 90s I'm here for so let's be conscious of what we're doing let's look at the past Google population classroom population growth be known shut down the school that is in the growth movement such a decision would certainly be unreasonable and I would say you're right here without Authority [Applause] so young okay okay Anna do
077you want to speak now okay great hi I'm Anna thielen I'm a junior here at Wilson I wrote a letter to the board members and sent it to all seven on December 20th 2022. some of you may have read in Florida in my letter I hit a major point of not understanding why closing Wilson 7-12 is the best option for 7-12 I invited any school board member to sit down with me Senator Roger Robinson thank you Roger Roger explained to me that he has never seen these numbers himself as a board member so he wouldn't be able to help me the next female came also on December 21st from Mr Dalton work I appreciate his response he only thank me for my letter and said if I had any more information would let him know
078I responded and explained that I had thought he misunderstood however I never heard back again as for the rest of the board members I guess you didn't respect me enough to acknowledge my concerns I feel blatantly dismissed especially from our at large position board member who is supposed to represent not just one part of the district but the whole District foreign so let's get to my suggestions I have heard it is going to save money however I haven't seen any official numbers until today I hope that the board members know that very few students will be going to school at Central Plains which I know will reduce state aid through USD 112. on top of that there will be an added expense of building a busing for the small number of Doris Wilson students who
079will attend school in Copa savings will be minimal if you're only closing capability the district will be still will still be paying the same amount of money to run our school there's no way to cut off half of it the only money being saved will be in teachers salaries how about we we can reconsider sharing staff this will keep the most amount of students in our district yet cut the district's salary expenses according to the information I read that was put out today and the reduction in salaries would allow the custodian salaries to come from the general fund I understand that this is one of the goals of the board of education is trying to achieve so now I'm asking the five board members who seem to be in favor of closing Wilson 7-12 to
080reconsider and take time to explore these other options remember USB 102's model is every student every chance every day are you really giving your Wilson students a chance thank you [Applause] David Criswell hello my name is David Criswell probably before 18 26th Street there's been several people who have spoken about due diligence and transparency and I think also thoroughness and I think a decision-making process that is as complicated and as important as this it needs to have a great amount of due diligence a lot of transparency and a lot of thoroughs and without that I don't think anyone can say that the process is honest thank you without honesty you really don't have democracy where there is no honesty there is no democracy this is a democratic conference four years ago when this issue came
081up we did a survey here in town and I I get members of the time from superintendent Clark and even though these numbers are different than what they are now of course they're more now as far as the costs and the anticipated savings but I think you can extrapolate from lands and as and I put together this survey and to all of the parents and Guardians students here in Wilson and they were asked to identify whether or not their students would would continue to go to school here or would be agreeable to being the best seller I'm not going to go into the exact numbers that I got from superintendent Clark but I will just say that based on the state aid for students the amount that existed then which is eight thousand six hundred
082pounds and the costs uh the anticipated savings on teacher salaries and benefits and On Athletics and extracurricular activities there was anticipated to be at 397 000 annual savings but based on the state for student aid the loss of over 30 percent of Wilson's K-12 students would erase more than that could say is that anticipated sales only 30 percent the loss of only 30 percent are raised all of those savings and the people that signed this petition a lot of those a lot of these students have graduated since then but they they represented 127 students and we all know that if you close our 7th through 12th our elementary is the point of the client as well that's just common sense because parents that send their kids their older kids to another school they're going to
083send their younger kids down in the school also maybe not all of them but a lot of them I would I would just encourage you that unless you have done the due diligence transparency and the democracy that a decision for this magnitude requires it's not an honest process and no one in this community has been accepted we demand you to be honest and demand you to be thorough and do the debiliters thank you [Applause] foreign Lexi McCarter [Music] hello can it really hear me I am Lexington Carter 705 24th Street Wilson Kansas I'm a sophomore at Wilson Park I grew up in Wilson Kansas it has been my home horizontally when I first found out that our school was possibly closed I bawled my eyes out it may seem stupid to some people but I
084love little something there's so many Traditions that are awesome like the pep rally games and the door decorating it's simple but it's lovely I love homecoming where we're always able to decorate our trailer we all have fun sitting and dancing on the trailers it's wonderful I also love the tradition of the seniors whitewashing their names on the street without our school I'll never be able to become a senior in this town that I loved I dreamed of that day but now it might not happen everyone's a family I grew up with everyone here I know every road every alloy every business because it's home and it would not be the same without the school all of us here love this place but if you close it down it will destroy the sound destroy every holiness
085if the school closes then everything else will follow the business holder's income possibly even closed we have a community to help our community will crumble if they close the school you're not only affecting the students of Wilson but also the businesses businesses that have been here even before at school yet the community always comes together the community has so much school spirit when it comes to sports our community shows up like at this event right now [Applause] my favorite sports moments are when the boys are singing in the crowd singing come on girls you can do this this is your game you can play even if we don't win that round or that thing anyway that's fine because our school shows that they believed in us the whole time they believed that we were even
086able to shoot a basket hit the volleyball over to our port they knew that we could do it they believed in US Everyone is always there for a turn although there are some times where we disagree we always come back over it shows the power of the community our community our control I would also like to talk for my friend Evelyn Reichel who was not able to come today she has only been here for one and a half years even though that time may seem short she loved her school she has moved from school to school yet they've never written yet here at wilsonburg she finally feels at home she has had friends at other schools but here in Wilson it's family and I know that you are probably tired of hearing me and everyone
087else say it's a community I don't believe that it's just a community I believe that we here in Wilson and everyone else who comes to the school We Are Family we are all so beautiful together like the concerts that we say we all work so hard and it sounds wonderful the band when it plays the sports teams it's lovely and as you saw when you probably walked in if you walked in that way uh you would see the trophies the names on the walls of people who have done great things as you can see under the walls you can see all of the things that we have done all of the beautiful great amazing things that Wilson has done we couldn't have done this if we didn't have a school we couldn't have done this
088if we didn't have a place to do it and that's why I believe that Wilson time I should stay open because without it family is not a family it's not a home [Applause] thank you I have Wayne Cody Caleb and Colton yes the seventh grader at Wilson Junior Senior High School and these are my friends and also Santa craves I'm going to talk about some disadvantages of closing Wilson Schools and some advantages of keeping the school you're going to your new school that's 30 miles away and you realize when you're halfway to school you've forgotten your computer and you had a huge math test that day you have to go all the way home and now you are late this morning because you have to go is waiting foreign and everybody's a round trip in
089just 10 minutes for school clothes your kid is sick and you have to drive 50 plus miles to pick them up a 50 mile round trip is a long time instead of just five minutes you fill out the monkey bars you broke a bone you got on the wrong bus then you have to drive all the way to your infested roads or dealing with road crew delays or a husband could be with Justified [Applause] I can't read this book today okay [Music] you can't read the right I could be wrong it may not be that if somebody wrong list okay Carrie Criswell my name is Kara Criswell and I am a senior at Wilson High School growing up I was taught to always be kind and respectful especially to adults right now but I know
090I'm not alone when I say I am frustrated and exhausted from providing videos and presentations full of facts and statistics about this issue when the board members can't even bother to acknowledge us there are countless reasons why why this is a terrible decision it will ultimately lead to the destruction of the two remaining schools but instead of reminding you I will just ask you to think about something else how are these decisions affecting students staff and community members Mental Health are you positive you are making this decision without being biased if you were put in the same position as a Wilson Junior Senior High School student you make the 30 plus mile journey to Central Plains High School and lastly I ask you to truly think about why you are doing this because the facts
091aren't adding up and it's not too late to change your mind thank you [Applause] Sean Peterson foreign and we'll soon be moving there um I really thought a lot uh listening to everybody speaking hopefully you can hear me all right one day I don't need a mic what do I have to offer I'm kind of the the viewer from afar uh much like others I don't have a dog get you out of school but looking from a distance reading articles in the paper seeing different things on social media I didn't know whether to to title what I wanted to say things that make you go huh where leadership is hard so I'll stick stick with a lot I don't know many of you who recognized one most of the people behind me I don't know
092why you may know me first I want to say wow great speakers you've heard from a lot of folks people that are passionate people that are engaged people that are smarter kids that are brave I'm glad my mom made me pick speech because I would have never got up and and spoke like this I think people have been respectful probably more respectful than than I would be if I were as engaged in Passions asking questions great questions that appeared not to have been answered so I will tell you leadership is hard I know come talk to me we'll discuss it these are hard decisions maybe you thought you would never have to make a decision like this when you ran for this position or Worse maybe that's exactly why you ran for the position I
093hope not leadership is hard I will tell you from looking that far the map doesn't add up it's slamming and to hear that it just came out today if I took this report to a bank they would lock me out the front door true common courtesy and respect that most people teach their children not to to reply to an email is embarrassing you should be embarrassed if that was you 've been given more than enough options ideas data facts and figures tonight then it's been released by the sport leadership is hard if you can't explain yourself thoroughly honestly transparently and with humility that you don't have a good enough argument if the roles were reversed and you were sitting in here what would you expect what would you demand I think most people and I've
094I've dealt with a lot of people in a lot of areas I think most people when given data facts figures they understand they may not like it they may be passionate about it let me be worried about what they understand the data doesn't support it leadership is hard you should have forecasts you should have budgets you should have projections you should have details that clarifies a lot of this this doesn't pass the smell test and I'm looking from afars I've waited eight nine ten months this has been going on the spot off my mouth this doesn't pass the smell test you know what you're doing there's been plenty of facts and figures and a lot of smart people with a lot of ideas that can help you don't let it go to waste foreign ER
095[Music] foreign here at the school I have spent 17 and a half years of my life working with children I was going to bring up a couple points that I have to say those of you have already spoken out well done very good points made um I have no animosity but I'm deeply upset I chose to go ahead and speak although I was going to bow out and I made my time because like I said my points are already made but then as I'm listening it occurred to me that I have a big big thing to me not about academics not about finances by happy accidents I have a quote that I wrote on our chalkboard right before Christmas break so that when we came back it would be up there I started writing an
096inspirational quote and I change it once a week happy accident my quote that we came back to school today on my board waiting for these kids there were two kinds of Education in life the kind that are new money and the kind that teach you why I don't like the education my children are getting when you are educating our Wilson kids on is they're not worth fighting for you're educating them we're going to take the easy way out because you're not worth it that's not an education I've got my kids or any of these other children together those of you who have kids grandkids is that the message that you want them to receive we're going to cut ties whether you sink or swim we're going to save ourselves because you're not worth it they
097can go to another school yeah they'll adjust should they have to because we won't try to find another way years ago I lived in Arizona I grew up in Wilson graduated and moved away I came back because I didn't like how so many of those kids weren't being taken care of in their schools the idea was fine No Child Left Behind the kids were getting left behind kids were forced to get online to figure out how to do their homework because teachers were busy working with children who didn't even speak English so they didn't fall behind I have no problem with those kids getting an education I had a problem with the other children getting shoved to the side that's what's happening with our kids look at those faces they care to show up they
098care to speak aren't they worth fighting for they can care tonight to fight please take your examples from them they chose to fight be brave like they were [Music] Olivia Casper good evening everyone I will tell you 48 years ago today I never dreamed that I would be defending keeping a school open but when you marry in to the community of Wilson no matter where you went to high school or where you graduated from you become a dragon there's people back here that if they think back 48 years I look at the clock they know exactly what they were doing 48 years at this time we need to stay together we need to keep USD 112. I agree with everything that's been said here tonight but I think something that is missing just a little
099bit is sinking back 10 years 10 years ago we voted to take class 1 in at that time I was employed at Clara Barton Hospital in Hoisington I wish that I had a quarter so every time I heard a staff member at that hospital say our kids can't go to go to Hoisington they'll have to try out the football our kids can't do this but if we get Wilson to take us in we've got it made with bushnet now because I was a consultant and not there full time they were not aware of where my home territory was I went to a high school that had a four day week I taught three years in a high school with a four day week I taught 11 years here at Wilson before changing careers have anybody
100actually put the figures together for a four day week we were saving Oodles of money and I will let you know that was back in the 60s and 70s so if it was brand new back then they'd probably refined it all I'm gonna take something away from Michelle L brookish she had the kids stand up what I want to know is is there anybody here that will stand up and say they want to speak for the closing of Wilson High School that scares me to death and I'll tell you why if they can't make the drive from the Claflin area up here and speak why they should stay open and we should be closed do you have the support in the Cleveland area or in three years is it going to be going back to
101well if nobody takes us in we're going to have to go to poisington thank you [Applause] thank you foreign questions okay thank you priority to speak my voice terrorism you all believe in transparency simple yes or no question do you yes or no you sir going down the road everybody believes in transparency yes or no all right how much money school is supposed to save and close down if I forget that you're not a problem six hundred thousand all right through the newspaper down here available newspapers Arabic receipt how much money goes down to school is going to say the school district I've seen no numbers for 10 newspaper you can all see you will only do that yes or no are you going to do that but anybody said yes the board is not
102going to address your questions at this time so if you want to speak you can go ahead and speak but don't ask them questions so that means you know there's no transparency that's not what they say if there is no the next week and a half or two weeks no Arc of elbow paper for the six hundred thousand dollars coming from and this is all bull crap let's be honest but what's the real reason why I called it out of school I have no idea I am Donald Trump has anything if I want to know what the real reason is I won't put in the paper a few more show the savings what's the reason also don't be transparent about that until the savings you all be in the lawsuit honor I think that made
103me state law you have to show you have an attorney here for you guys I think maybe stay long you have to show the savings through all of us you may welcome to attorney about that they're talking to me about that you have to show the reason why you're closing a school number two don't forget about that so those glorified students are gonna go to clapping I can get them there timeline who's gone are you gonna get away these are facts no alarms it's gonna be Ellsworth diagonal and if I was a parent try to take my kid down a County Road or dirt road to make a shortcut I'm gonna drop the locks on you so fast I'm gonna get your head spinning these are just bags we're talking to your name out so
104before you close the school down one you have to have it opened reason why to close the school down show us another question your prize to Bridge I mean the kids there that concludes the individuals who have signed up to speak would you like to thank everyone for their time and attention this evening Mr Ford president at this time I believe it is recommended that the board take the information and turn tonight under consideration with possible action to be taken at the next regularly scheduled board meeting on Monday not January 9 2023 at the Holiday room gym or at a board member or a board meeting at a later date there are no other further questions the hearing is concluded how many of you know my name is Wilson in 1976. so much . the
105best way here thank you [Applause] [Music] and so with that I would encourage everyone to present attention against you at the board meeting on Monday as well if somebody did not get a chance to say what they wanted to say uh and with that I will in general Thanksgiving ideas [Applause] [Music]