News Enterprise, Elizabethtown, April 29, 2012

Muldraugh dreads the final bell
Community struggles with news of school closing
By Kelly Cantrall

Muldraugh parents comforted by knowing their children were just minutes away during the school day are struggling to adjust to the news that next year that won’t be the case.

Muldraugh Elementary School is closing at the end of the school year, along with Battletown Elementary School northwest of Brandenburg, and Muldraugh residents are reeling from the news that their community school is closing.

The Meade County Schools board voted April 10 to close the two schools after holding a public forum in March. Superintendent Mitch Crump explained to residents at the meeting that with budget cuts of about $1 million in the past two years, and enrollment that has declined by 22 percent over the past several years, a need to close the schools had become apparent.

The schools have about 90 students each, Crump said. The cost of educating students at the schools, which includes the building upkeep and staff expenses, is much higher than the cost of educating students in other district schools, Crump said at the meeting.

Muldraugh students will attend Flaherty Elementary School next year. Battletown students will attend Brandenburg Primary School and David T. Wilson and Payneville elementaries.

Tanya Smith is concerned about her two children having to make their way to Flaherty Elementary, when they could walk to Muldraugh Elementary if needed, she said. Flaherty Elementary is 10 to 12 miles from Muldraugh Elementary, depending on the route taken.

The proximity of the elementary school is one of the reasons Smith moved to Muldraugh, she said. She now plans to move out of the town at some point.

Since the town is small, Smith feels the school added a big piece to the community.

“I feel like our town will become a ghost town after the elementary closes,” she said.

City Council member Donald Basham said he had similar fears and wonders about property values in town without the school.

“If you lose your school, what do you got?” he said.

Basham said he hoped the city could purchase the building.

City Council member Patricia Reese said the school also provided activities for children. Now those options will be gone for parents and their children.

“I think it’s a sorry state of affairs,” she said.

Smith said she attended large and small schools, and she preferred the smaller environment.

“I know the school is small,” she said, “but that’s the best part about it.”

Discussion about closing the two schools came up in February, Crump said. But district officials had known it was a possibility for a while.

“It’s been a concern for several years,” he said.

Meade’s facilities plan, which lists all possible plans for school property, such as construction or renovation, was approved in June 2011, and lists Muldraugh and Battletown as “transitional buildings,” which typically means the district plans to close them or change their status in some way, Lisa Gross, director of the division of communications for the Kentucky Department of Education, said in an email.

A decision to close a school must be part of the district’s facilities plan, which must approved by KDE, Gross said.

Crump said the district is working on transitioning students to their new schools by having open houses and lunches at the schools they will attend next year.

Tenured staff at Muldraugh and Battletown schools will be reassigned to new positions, while Crump said he’s asked non-tenured employees to wait and see what positions open over the summer. The district usually has between 20 and 50 positions open every year, he said.

Crump said closing schools isn’t an easy call to make.

“It was a tough decision, but you have to try to make the best decision for the school district,” he said.