(Kingsford Heights, IN) - The applause could have been mistaken for what’s heard from a game-winning buzzer-beater. In this case, the large crowd, surprised, if not shocked, was celebrating a decision to no longer consider shutting the doors at Kingsford Heights Elementary School.

 

“It’s exciting,” said Crystal Morton, whose son, Cameron, is a fourth grader at the school.

 

LaPorte School Corporation Interim Superintendent Dr. Peggy Hinckley made the announcement on Wednesday night before an audience of more than 200 people in attendance for a workshop session of the school board.

 

She pointed to the pleading hearts of citizens and a developer with plans to construct as many as 300 new homes in the Kingsford Heights area for the decision to no longer pursue the idea of a potential school closure.

 

“The heartfelt love that you feel for this school was so obvious that it was overwhelming to us. It caused us all to pause,” she said.

 

Closing the school was being examined as a means to help reduce deficit spending caused by an enrollment decline of about 900 students throughout the system since 2008.

 

Hinckley explained the school corporation’s budget surplus had dropped from $10.5 million to $7.3 million since 2019 because nothing has been done to offset the loss in revenue caused by dropping student head counts. The school corporation receives about $8,600 for every student, she said.

 

Another factor in the decision, perhaps, was parents vowing to send their elementary-age children to nearby Oregon Davis Schools or South Central Schools.  About 80 percent of the enrollment loss has been through school choice programs.

 

“We have options, too. I think the board made the right decision,” said Orlando Dunlap, 61, a lifelong resident of the town of about 1,300 residents. He and his children went to the school, and Dunlap's first grandchild will enroll in kindergarten there in the fall.

 

“I feel incredibly pleased and blessed that we are going to continue on with our school,” he said.

 

Kingsford Heights Elementary was the only school considered for closure because it has 117 students, or about one-third of the building’s capacity.

 

Had the school closed, Hinckley said, the students likely would have moved to Kingsbury Elementary School, where enrollment is about 290 in a building that can house up to 500 students.

 

Hinckley and members of the school board noted that the task at hand now is finding ways to gain more students than losing to school choice programs.

 

Board member Jennifer Farlie said that the residents being listened to and choosing not to close the school could have been the first step to making the school corporation a more attractive option for parents.

 

Farlie said the best solution might be overcoming a shortage of bus drivers, a challenge for many school districts nationwide. There have been problems with delays in students getting to and from school when too many drivers fail to report for work due to sickness or other reasons.

 

“We’re really trying to hone in on that and to fix that. From my understanding, that’s why a lot of our students go to Oregon-Davis,” she said.