Granton community concerned about future of school
A discussion about potential future talks with neighboring school districts on cooperating on student education took a dramatic turn at the Granton School Board regular monthly meeting held on Feb. 14. The Board faced many questions and heard concerns voiced by parents, school staff and other community members about where such talks could lead, talks that were fueled by rumors that had floated around on social media the week prior.
At least 50 people attended the meeting and spoke their minds about how far cooperation between school districts should go, asking the members of the Board to clarify their position on keeping the entire K-12 school district open. During the discussion, it was implied that some of the wo r r y stemmed from posts made by an individual on social media last week that spoke about plans to have the high school closed. These posts had led to worry among school staff about their jobs and whether or not they would continue to be employed, and among some students and parents, who worried about where they would have to send their kids if the school closed.
“I started getting questions last week and had a meeting with 50 staff members,” said district administrator James Kuchta, who spoke his own personal thoughts on the matter. “There were allegations of secret meetings, it’s very disturbing and it’s wrong. We just had strategic planning for the past year ... Board, take a stand and support staff, but if not, just rip the bandaid off. This (rumors) will chase staff way from Granton. It is a good place and has a lot to offer.”
The discussion about the future of the school started after Board member Paul Knoff read a formal letter he had written prior to the meeting about some of the issues he felt the Granton School District is facing. With the looming threat of teacher shortages, low participation in mainstay high school sports and low high school numbers overall, he suggested meeting with other local school boards to discuss options on what to do for the future.
“I would like to request a joint meeting with the Neillsville School Board, the Loyal School Board and the Greenwood School Board and have a meeting on cooperation,” Knoff said. “We have a teacher shortage, it’s a major problem. We aren’t getting positions filled until the week before school starts and some of those teachers we hire are not even qualified applicants. If we continue where we are going, will we have to go virtual? We have to discuss the future of the school ... we want more options for our kids. I would like to set up a joint meeting with other schools to have a forum with the public on the future of the school.”
From there, members of the public attending the meeting asked questions about the need to have meetings with other local school boards and what was hoped to be accomplished. Many of those in attendance referenced a similar series of events that had occurred in 2011 when the Board almost closed its high school due to concerns about the district’s future financial stability. That event led to an exodus of teachers that summer and left students scared for their future at the school.
“What happened in 2011 is that a lot of the staff were scared. They left,” said Jessica Schier, fourth-grade teacher at the school and a former Granton student. “I would tread very carefully. Look at what we’ve done so far, don’t let the strategic plan be a waste, be clear on what you want to discuss, make it clear to the staff so you don’t lose staff. I went through this as a student and now again as a staff. It was scary then and it is scary now.”
“I think its a slippery slope,” added one of the parents at the meeting. “This school is the lifeblood of this community. You take that away, the clock has started. As a parent, I have two kids in the elementary school, if you keep the elementary and send the high school to a different school, I have concerns ... If we get rid of our high school the clock will start. Look at Chili, they used to have an elementary school, if your formula worked, they would still have their school. It’s now gone.”
Knoff was the sole spokesperson on the proposal he had made to the Board as the rest of the Board members expressed their differing thoughts on the matter. He spoke about the struggle Granton has in offering certain programs and activities to students and pointed to numbers showing the decline in overall enrollment.
“I believe there are kids in this district that would be better suited by another district,” he said. “I have no problem keeping the school open as long as possible, but most of the students who open enroll out never went to Granton. We lose twice as many kids as we get in from open enrollment ... a lot of what is happening is out of our control. There are less farm families and less and less kids. The demographics change. Even if we were to change how many people open enroll out that is not a solution. We’re trying to get water from a rock. There are no kids left ... I know it is an emotional issue, but we do have to consider nostalgia affecting our view of the school. In 1995 there were 125 kids in
“We don’t want anyone looking for a job. We don’t want our students looking at other schools. We’re not going to close. We need to adapt. I know I’m not reassuring everyone, but I want to.” -- Granton Board of Education member Doug Eichten the high school, now there is 55. That is a huge difference. Sports, it’s obvious, but also extra curriculars. It’s not the same as it was. I hope we can come up with a way to make everyone happy.”
While addressing Knoff’s concerns, and acknowledging the positives that could come from communicating with other schools about issues, fellow Board member Doug Eichten said there are many things the school is in the process of doing to make things better. The Board is focused on building the future of the school, he said, so people should not be afraid of losing their jobs or having to find a new school for their kids.
“How good of a job are we doing for our students?” he asked. “On sports, that’s true. When we did co-ops, the kids chose not to participate. When we co-oped with Loyal for volleyball, we sent one kid. When we co-oped with Greenwood we went to state, three years later were only sending three kids. Now there are 20 kids who want to try e-sports. That’s crazy, but crazy is the new norm. I look at how could we make this school better. There is a teacher shortage, but there is a worker shortage everywhere, we have to be better at what we do.
“There are other things that the kids don’t get to experience but we can get better at that ... I think it is a good idea to talk to the other districts, it’s a good idea, but lets keep it small. There may be some things we have that they want and vice versa. No kind of communication is bad ... We don’t want anyone looking for a job. We don’t want our students looking at other schools. We’re not going to close. We need to adapt. I know I’m not reassuring everyone, but I want to.”
