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The Bea McDonald Elementary will close and K-6 students will be housed in the middle school, while seventh and eighth grade students will move to the high school, effective next fall.

Currently students in K-3 are in the elementary building, and the middle school contains those in grades four through eight.

In addition the superintendent's office will move from the middle school to the Kindergarten Cottage next to the high school, and the B-4-K and Head Start Programs will remain at Bea McDonald for the time being.

Two of the seven board members-Julie Quade and Sarah Kady- voted against the motion.

Kady said she is not opposed to the consolidation, but to the plan to keep the elementary open.

"If we can't get the pay-as-you-go preschool, it is not financially responsible to keep the elementary open," Kady stated. "It will cost at least $35,000 for utilities and Head Start pays $18,000. I'd like to wait and see what the numbers are. They will only utilize three classrooms, one is a double."

"I think early childhood education is extremely important, but I want to find some place else to house it," she added.

"The reason I voted no - I really don't like the idea of the 7th and 8th grade going to the high school," said Quade. "And, since we're not completely closing the elementary school down, I would have liked to have researched more options."

The teaching staff has formed planning committees, one for K-6 and one for 7-12, and will meet weekly after the holidays.

"The staff will be more aware (of moving issues) than the administration," stated Superintendent Duane Lange. He has already met with the middle school and high school staffs, and was scheduled to meet with the elementary staff last week when school let out early because of the weather. Lange said they will meet this week before Christmas vacation.

Issues the staffs will discuss include: curriculum, room assignments, exploratory offerings for the junior high students, remediation classes, counseling, lunch hours, class schedules, bus dismissals and the actual move.

Lange said student will have access to more equipment in the middle school, everything from the mass media room and wood shop to a larger gym and life management room.

He said they don't have to make a lot of physical changes in order to shift the grades.

Changes at the middle school will include adding a bus loop and possibly adding onto the parking lot and making one office into a classroom. In the high school they plan to renovate the metal shop room and split a double classroom.

What is the community's reaction to the plan?

"There has not been a whole lot of discussion (from parents at board meetings). A few parents are concerned about a smooth transition, especially with the seventh and eighth graders going to the high school. We will work to isolate them. They will have a different lunch hour and schedules," Lange stated.

The idea is not news to the public. Community groups have been discussing how to handle dropping enrollment since early fall and the board has also been talking about it as well.

The plan is driven primarily by finances.

"We will save (an estimated)$250,000 the first year, but is long term expenses. It is not smart to put money in that old building, especially when we have empty classrooms. There are nine empty rooms in the district and several that are used only one or two hours a day," Lange said.

Bea McDonald was built in the 1950s and the two additions were added about 40 years ago.

He stated the middle school will house about 550 students next year, which is about the same number as 10-12 years ago.

"Building use will be more efficient. It will be full, except we used to have 30 some kids in a classroom and now we have in the mid-20s," Lange stated.

"We would have had to cut teaching staff no matter what. We'll cut three or four teachers based on enrollment. We lost 97 (students) this year, and we anticipated 70. Most are moving. We lost a lot when the Lutheran School opened, but it has stabilized," he commented.

The district will also have one less principal and fewer support staff, such as secretaries and custodians and teachers' aides.