ESCANABA — Residents spoke against closing the Soo Hill Elementary School at Monday night’s Escanaba School Board Committee of the Whole meeting. Escanaba Superintendent Coby Fletcher listened to their comments during the citizens and delegations portion of the meeting.

Sage Dubord, a life-long resident of the Escanaba School District, read a prepared statement.

“I was born a Soo Hill Huskie … this board that sits before me is so unaware of the public concern of our shrinking school district. The amount of numbers in this community that have children at Soo Hill and do not want to see it close are extremely high,” said Dubord.

She continued to say school teachers and personnel have come to her and said they were against the closing of Soo Hill school, but were too afraid to say anything due to the repercussions.

“When the very people that we place our highest value on to educate our children, our biggest assets, feel bullied into not speaking up it shakes me to the core,” said Dubord.

Dubord said maybe Fletcher looked at the bottom line, but also to improve his resume.

“For when he does move on, he can show how much money he saved this district,” said Dubord.

Another member of the audience stated they have not seen how the Escanaba School Board is trying to get kids into the school district. The board was told if Soo Hill is sold, voters will not pay to build another elementary school.

The board was asked by Escanaba resident Dan Kleikamp to vote with their conscience and not with what Fletcher recommends.

“You are all local people. You guys are serving the board because you want to give back to our area,” said Kleikamp. “… you board members will have to answer to the people who voted you in … I know it’s tough and I hope you vote with your conscience.”

Resident Katie Trombly told the board to work to get the students back that have been lost through the school of choice program.

“We’re putting ourselves in a place where there’s no room to grow … as a taxpayer I want my money to go into a district that’s trying to grow. Maybe in five years, we can look this … we need to get the students here. We’re going the wrong way,” said Trombly.

It was mentioned if the school was to be sold it should go out for bid. Another idea was to rent the building to others interested in buying it.

Jessie Randall is a local resident that lived in up-state New York. He described how closing schools and consolidating in New York began the death of his community. Randall continued to say they moved to Escanaba because of the quality of education, and now he’s concerned because the district seems to be going down the same path his old district did.

“Guess what they had to do to save the school,” said Randall. “it’s coming, if you want to pass a millage get rid of athletics … Remember it says board of education. Do all you can to save the student, the teachers, do all you can to keep the class sizes down.”

Randall continued to say the quality of education goes up when the number of students per teacher goes down.

“What is your athletic budget? I don’t know, I’m not from here, but I guarantee you it’s worth Soo Hill School,” said Randall.

Escanaba resident Gay Kleikamp said she didn’t want to hear about the sinking fund anymore.

“We cannot give anymore. Enough is enough,” said Kleikamp.

In other business the board:

– Listened to Delta Schoolcraft Intermediate School District Superintendent Doug Leisenring explain about the Learning Center’s need to expand into a larger building and his interest in buying the Soo Hill building if it becomes available.

– Watched Fletcher’s slide presentation answering questions regarding consolidation/reconfiguration. Fletcher reminded the board Dec. 10, 2018, they spoke about selling properties, reviewing rental rates of facilities, setting aside 5 percent for facility maintenance and capital needs, and reconfiguration. Issues to tackle include facility emergencies, lower student count, and the gap between State funding and inflation. Fletcher advised the school district should be leaner and more efficient.

– Hired Ethel Mizejewski as a bus driver.

– Reviewed the Scholarship Investment Policy revisions recommended by Scholarship Committee member Glendon Brown. Brown suggested cleaning up language eliminating cd maturity dates, mentioned benchmark index names have been changed, and the description of how trust pay-outs are handled has changed in the policy.

– Reviewed Accent Specialty Services’ quarterly review. Accent, a custodial service from Menominee, is required by the board to provide quarterly information after the contract was renewed with the board over the summer. Accent provided a detailed report in regard to quality assurance of cleaning services in the Escanaba facilities.

– Approved a timeline to evaluate Superintendent Fletcher.

The Escanaba Area Public School District will hold a community forum to discuss the district’s potential reconfiguration tonight from 6 to 8 p.m. The forum will be held in the courtyard room at the Escanaba Upper Elementary School, 1500 Ludington St. Community members are encouraged to attend and bring their questions and feedback.