Charleston School District closes kindergarten center because of budget deficit

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Early this summer supplies and furniture were moved from Charleston's Kindergarten Center to a new home located nearly a mile away at Hearnes Elementary.

When the new school year begins on Aug. 19, all of the district's students in prekindergarten through fifth grade will be housed at Hearnes Elementary, the Sikeston Standard Democrat reported.

"Everything is going well. Actually the move is far ahead of schedule," said Earl Farmer Jr., president of the Charleston School Board.

Since 1956 the Kindergarten Center building on East Commercial Street has housed the school district's kindergarten and prekindergarten students.

Faced with declining enrollment, funding constraints and a $1 million deficit for the 2010-2011 school year budget, the Board of Education voted in the spring to move the kindergarten and prekindergarten students to Hearnes Elementary on Plant Road.

"It was a tough decision for us to have to make," Farmer said. "Tough times mean you have to make tough decisions, and that's part of being on the school board."

For the upcoming school year, kindergarten will downsize from five to four classes, and there will be two prekindergarten classes.

"To bring the kindergarten over to Hearnes as it was once before, it wasn't going to be that big of a problem," Farmer said.

However, Farmer said making the decision to move the kindergarten and prekindergarten classes was a difficult one by the Board.

"To come up with $1 million, you have to go to work to try to find that money. With the crisis the state economy is in -- and it's hurting all the school districts -- we had to do something," Farmer said.

He said the board didn't make a "snap decision," but it researched its options. Board members considered cutting its tennis and track programs, but ultimately went with moving the Kindergarten Center students to Hearnes Elementary, Farmer said.

"That was one of the moves we felt like needed to be made because when you're trying to save jobs, you have do what's best for the students. We thought it would be a good move for the students," Farmer said.

A trailer near the Kindergarten Center was also moved on site near the Hearnes building and will be used for special classes, too, Farmer said.

The move will save operating costs as well as save time in transporting students back and forth. Previously kindergarten students were transported by bus to the Hearnes building for special classes and for meals.

Tammy Brock, assistant principal at Hearnes Elementary, said the move will also make it easier when discipline issues arise because everyone will be on one campus. Before, she and principal Lori Scheeter would travel back and forth between the two buildings.

Brock said the transition began when school let out in May.

"The biggest thing was getting everything moved over here, and most of the teachers already have their rooms set up," Brock said.

Amanda Medlock, an early childhood teacher who was organizing her classroom Monday, said the move was a smooth one.

"Now we're trying to figure out where to put everything," Medlock said.

Farmer noted there has been some opposition to the change, which he said is understandable.

"The kindergarten teachers have worked so hard to get everything in place and for everything to run smooth at the center," he said.

Farmer said the school board voted to leave the center as is at least for a year to see how the transition works. But overall, board members think it's a great move, he said.

"When our school gets going, everything will fall into place, and everything will be OK," Farmer said. "I have faith and trust and confidence in the administration and teaching staff that everything will work out all right."