The St. Joseph School District Board of Education is considering what additional cuts need to be made after voting to close two schools at Monday night’s meeting.

The Board of Education voted 6 to 1 to close Humboldt Elementary School and Lake Contrary Elementary School. The closings are part of cuts made as the School District was facing an approximately $8.5 million budget deficit.

The cuts and changes made Monday night, including the closings, curriculum advisor reorganization and administrative reorganization, totaled approximately $6.1 million.

Board of Education member Larry Koch said the decision to close the schools was not an easy one.

“It kind of came down to the desire to have the least amount of disruption… Schools become families, they become large families… and when you start disrupting that, it becomes painful,” Koch said. “The fact is, the school district has known for a number of years now that we needed to reduce the number of elementary schools and ultimately the number of middle schools and high schools, but it’s a real challenge to do that. The outcome of the vote (in November) made it very clear that we could no longer kick the can down the road. The public wanted changes so I think it’s jump started the plan that’s been out there on the shelf for a couple years now.”

Koch said Humboldt and Lake Contrary were chosen to be closed as they were smaller and it would be easiest to transfer students from Humboldt to Lindbergh Elementary School and Robidoux Middle School and from Lake to Hosea Elementary School and Spring Garden Middle School.

The Board is still considering other recommendations to meet the total amount of needed cuts to balance the budget. Koch said other cuts being considered will include changes to extra curricular activities and changes with health insurance.

The board also voted Monday night on whether to approve steps and movement for staff members or to freeze salaries for the 2018-19 school year. The board voted 5-2 in favor of approving steps and movement for the next school year.

The board meets again December 18.

For more information on budget cuts made and being considered and to view the entire meeting, click here.

The board is also wanting to gather feedback from staff, students, parents and the community as the search process continues for the District’s next superintendent of schools. The town hall meeting schedule includes opportunities to provide feedback:

The next meetings will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Robidoux Middle School and at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Spring Garden Middle School.

For those unable to attend a town hall session, the survey is available online. Responses will be accepted through December 16, 2017.

The Board plans to name a new superintendent in February and the new superintendent will assume duties on July 1, 2018.