Whitko School Board provided color coded paper for people’s comments and questions, though the majority of people discussed concerns amongst themselves.

SOUTH WHITLEY — The Whitko Community Schools School Board held the first of four informational meetings Monday, Jan. 30, at Whitko High School.

The meetings come after much talk in the Whitko community regarding possible school closures to solve financial needs. The rumors have instigated many to speak out in social media groups expressing their concern.

Superintendent Steve Clasen gave a one-hour presentation on the dilemma Whitko School Corporation is facing. A video of the presentation is available on Whitko Community Schools Facebook.

Whitko continues to see a decrease in their general fund, 90 percent of which is used to pay teacher salaries. The fund is driven by student enrollment; Whitko receives $6,600 from the state, from income and sales tax, for every student enrolled. Unless the community proposes a referendum for the next election ballot, Clasen made it clear that there will not be an increase in taxes.

The issue with low enrollment is impacting many rural schools, with nearby Tippecanoe and Triton also being affected.

When Whitko Middle School opened in 1993, the corporation had 2,196 students enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade. Ten years later when the high school was renovated, numbers were down by 250. Now, the school is at a mere 1,447 with a projected 1,320 for the ’20-’21 school year.

The school board wants to have a plan in place to make Whitko financially stable within five years before the ’17-’18 school year.

Potential solutions mentioned include reducing staff, increasing class size or eliminating courses. Other potential options include consolidating administrative services with another corporation, finding a service people will pay for, adding virtual school option or creative management techniques that could include a public referendum. Currently the schools will need to make up between $250,000-$600,000 every school year for the next five years.

What could be considered the most unwelcome option would be to redivide the schools. Options on the table were to divide into: kindergarten through third grade at Pierceton Elementary, fourth through eighth grade at Whitko Middle School, and ninth through 12th grade at Whitko High School; or to divide into two kindergarten through sixth grade groups with one at Pierceton and one at South Whitley Elementary, and seventh through 12th grade at either Whitko Middle or High School.

The board understands that none of these options are ideal, so they are asking the Whitko community for feedback and ideas. There will be three more informational sessions: 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 1, at Pierceton Elementary; 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 2, at Whitko Middle School; and 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4, at Whitko Middle School.

Questions received at these meetings will be posted online for the community to see. If you do not have internet access, a sign-up list is available to receive the questions by mail or email. Questions and comments can also be made online.

The first informational meeting was held in the Whitko High School auditorium.