Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Claypool Elementary Schools has a student population that is under 50% capacity for the school.
Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert told the Warsaw School Board Monday representatives from Warsaw Community Schools (WCS) went down to Claypool Elementary School Monday morning to discuss the demographic report with teachers. He said he wanted to share a little bit of what is going on with the school board.
He said WCS has talked about the demographics for about four or five years and some of them are getting to a point there has to be more discussion about them.
“We realize that we wanted our Claypool teachers to understand and to hear from us where those demographics are at, some that, again, can’t change. There are a lot of things that are outside of people’s hands. What we also wanted to talk about is what the future looks like, could look and just some things we’re looking at,” Hoffert said.
Hoffert said WCS is not looking at a reduction in force, which is the planned permanent elimination of job positions by an employer due to business necessity.
He talked about the population shifts that has happened over the years, noting there is a 25% birth rate decline and that will impact all WCS schools “as we get a little further along.”
Official decisions have not been made, but WCS has been watching demographics at all schools over the last five years as population demographics have shifted. Closure or consolidation is a possibility for the future, he said.
“There are state requirements that go into this. This is the first year that we do have a school that is under that state requirement. When a school is under 50% of its capacity, there is a form that has to be filled out and it has to go down to the state. You look at a number of different aspects of that population because the state is always looking and saying we want to make sure that we are leading efficient schools, as well. So this is the first year Claypool is under that threshold,” Hoffert said.
Claypool Elementary School has 206 students and has a capacity of 38.48%.
There is no quick fix to enrollment trends or population growth, Hoffert said. This is not a dollar and cents question, but about the services WCS is able to provide, saying some times there isn’t enough staff to cover things like clubs, sports teams or classes. He said once a school gets under 300 students, it becomes harder with efficiency and becomes even harder once the school gets under 200 and WCS is starting to see that at Claypool.
Hoffert also talked about where other WCS schools are. Harrison Elementary has 365 students. Board member Randy Polston, who used to be principal at Harrison, said one year Harrison maxed out at 750 students. Hoffert said Jefferson Elementary has 497 students.
He said Claypool has lost about 20 students for about the last 10 years.
Board member Matt Deuel asked if Hoffert could go into detail about the impact if the student enrollment goes as the trend has been going.
Hoffert said there would be an effect on academics for students and collaborations among teachers.
The population shift is not due to students attending other schools corporations, he said, adding population shifts happen naturally. WCS has lost about 6% in student enrollment over the last 10 years. Manchester Schools is down 18%, Triton is down 2%, Tippecanoe Valley is down 12%, Wawasee is down 19%, Whitko is down 28% and Wa-Nee is down 6%. Hoffert said WCS is a net gain when it comes to out-of-district transfers, which means WCS brings in more students from outside the school corporation than are leaving.
“So that is not where the students are going. Frankly, the students are just going because there is not that population any more,” he said.
Hoffert said population demographics is not a referendum on the education in a school like Claypool or any of the other schools WCS is looking at. Teachers can not control population shifts. There are emotional ties that go into communities and schools and WCS understands that, he said.
Hoffert said there will be continued evaluation/building enrollment capacity.
Decisions will not happen for any mid-year changes. Hoffert said a question he received was if Claypool was going to close mid-year.
“And the answer is absolutely not. We would never do that to the students. We want to make sure things are thoroughly thought out,” he said, adding WCS wants to make sure things are in place for students, teachers and the community. This is an ongoing conversation, but the enrollment is at a point WCS has to keep a look on it.
In other business, the board:
• Adopted the 2027 budget. The budget totals $109,635,213. The rainy day fund is $1 million. The debt service fund is $18,687,194. The referendum debt fund is $2,681,500. The education fund is $58,965,287. The operations fund is $28,301.232.
• Adopted the 2027 bus replacement plan.
• Adopted the 2027 capital projects plan.
• Heard a presentation from Emily Gough, science teacher at Warsaw Community High School, and Derek Pike, elementary STEM coach, about the elementary dissection class.
