MSD Announces Plans to Merge Northfield, Southwood

By Emma Rausch

WABASH COUNTY,IN The Southwood and Northfield school systems will be merging in 2017 following the MSD of Wabash County School Board’s unanimous vote to approve the motion at its bi-monthly meeting Tuesday night, July 12.
Board member John Gouveia cited maximizing the educational benefits for the students and enrollment as key factors which brought the board to the their decision.
“Not all decisions are easy, but I was elected as were my peers to represent the constituency of the Metropolitan School District of Wabash County and in doing so have the trust to take the fiscal resources and make sure they are deploring the maximum benefit to the students of MSD of Wabash County,” Gouveia said.

However, prior to the vote, teachers, principals and members of the public packed into the boardroom after information of the merger leaked to the public earlier this week.
Some questioned why they were not informed on the decision sooner.
“I don’t know why things are so secretive,” audience member Rosa Sparling said. “This really does mystify me. … I think as a community we should be a lot more open and communicate a lot more.”
Educator Amy Stearley expressed concern that MSD teachers were not informed prior to the information leak.
“I felt like us educators the last time this happened were kept in the dark until the very last minute and all of the decisions had been made,” she said. “We were not part of the decision making process. We were not asked for any input. We were not really allowed to be a part of the problem solving. We were just told this is how it’s going to be.”
Teachers make contact with students and teachers daily, she continued, and so “instead of becoming an asset to this whole process, we’ve been left out of it.”
The motion to merge the schools was also not stated on the Board’s agenda.
However, it was not the Board’s intention to keep it secretive, Gouveia said.
It’s extremely difficult to let a lot of people in on large decisions, added Ryan Rosen, former board member.
“That’s not being disrespectful. It’s extremely, extremely hard,” he said. “It’s by no means disrespect to keep teachers and public out of the decision making process. Sometimes it’s just a lot easier if less people know and for some reason (the information) always seems to leak, which always makes it difficult.”
This decision was not made easily, according to Sandra Weaver, past MSD superintendent who attended Tuesday’s meeting.
“I came this evening to be in support of this group because I know how tough this is,” she said, “and you (Stearley) bring up a very good point about communication and one of the toughest things … is communications because you say that you feel like you’ve been left out.
“It’s never easy to say who you communicate with first and these are hard times for us. … This board has grappled with ‘What is the best answer?’”
There are many aspects of the plan that have not been decided or discussed yet, such as school names and mascots or transportation for the students, Gouveia explained, but the merger plan will include the following:
•The Northfield High School building will become the new senior high school site for grades ninth through 12th grade.
•The Southwood High School facility will become the junior high school site for grades fifth through eighth.
•Sharp Creek Elementary School will close as an elementary school, but it may be repurposed in the future as an alternative learning base, administration building or another opportunity, according to Gouveia.
•Metro North and Southwood elementary schools will remain as kindergarten through fourth grade education facilities.
•The official merging will begin the 2017-2018 school year.
Prior to the vote, Gouveia and other board members expressed how emotional it was to shut down a school and merge the systems.
Following the vote, several audience members voiced positive positions on the merger.
“I, for one, as a parent of five children that are all going to be involved in this school system … I’m cautiously optimistic and honestly a little excited about this for the future of my children and the education that I hope that they can get,” David Pefley said.
Audience member Heather Hunsberger suggested getting the public excited for the merge with allowing public input to new school names and mascots.
Stearley thanked the Board for their explanations during the meeting.
Parents should think about their children before pulling them from MSD because of the merger, she said following the vote.
“The hardest thing about change is getting used to it and there’s always a lot of emotion in the beginning,” she said, “but people do tend to get used to it. I know there are a lot of high emotions running right now, but I hope that parents do what’s best for your kids, but one of the things that’s best for your kids is allow them to retain their close-knit friendships.
“I really feel like we’re (hearing) a lot of people out there saying they’re going to rip their children out of school without really thinking long term what the best thing is for their child.”
It is going to be difficult for the students to transition, she continued.
“But at least they’re going to go with their friends and they’re going to graduate with those kids that they have gone through school with,” Stearley said, “and I think in the long run, that is more important than one season on a team and so I hope that now that this has been (announced) … now people have a year to get used to the idea and I hope that you all will be sensitive to all the emotions out there.”