Coburn closed, LaMora Park to stay open

The Battle Creek Public Schools board voted Monday to keep the doors open at LaMora Park, but also decided to shutter Coburn in the face of declining enrollment and an anticipated budget shortfall.

But the future of Coburn's building may be brighter than expected: Superintendent Linda Hicks said Community Action has expressed interest in leasing the space once the school is closed to provide Head Start services for local children.

"They expressed an interest in making that the Head Start community site," Hicks said Monday. "...They believe that it's an ideal place for a community center."

Hicks had recommended closing both LaMora Park and Coburn, aligning with a report completed by consultants, who recommended BCPS close as many as two schools. While consultants outlined Dudley, LaMora Park and Coburn as top candidates for closure, a staff committee had recommended shuttering Urbandale and Fremont.

The district is anticipating a $2.4 million budget shortfall next school year, as well as the loss of 230 students. The consultants estimated closing LaMora Park would save the district $491,275, and closing Coburn would save $467,590.

The anticipated student loss would build on a trend of declining enrollment at BCPS. Back in 2004-05, the district had 7,461 students, but in 2014-15, the district had only 4,709 students, according to a presentation at Monday's board meeting.

Board members voted unanimously to close Coburn.

"It's really exciting that the Community Action agency is eager for one of our facilities," said board member Catherine LaValley. "...It's just exciting to know that that building will have a purpose and it will be serving those little kids that need to have that extra space all on one level and (it) should be a neat use for the Coburn Elementary."

A separate motion to close LaMora Park did not get as complete of a consensus, with board members voting 3-4 in favor of closing that school.

Board member Karen Evans said although she did not like the idea of closing LaMora Park, she supported shuttering the school, saying it is one of the district's smaller elementary schools.

But four other board members were not as convinced that closing LaMora Park was the right choice for the district. Board president Todd Stagner, as well as members LaValley, Nathan Grajek and Scott Cubberly, voted against closing the school.

LaValley said she could not support closing LaMora Park because the district did not have a plan for the building's future use if the school was shuttered.

Stagner said in an interview he voted to keep the school open because if the district still needs to reduce schools in the future, it could easily add space onto LaMora Park to house more students.

After the vote, Pam Cosgrove, a parent facilitator at LaMora Park, said she was excited about the board's decision to keep the school open.

"I'm happy that we're staying open," said Cosgrove, adding the school should have never been on the chopping block.

The district still needs to grapple with its anticipated budget shortfall. In light of the board's vote to keep LaMora Park open, Hicks said the district will be looking at staff reductions.

"The next step now is for me to meet with the board president and get some insight and direction about how we're going to head out in this process because we need to be aligned and connected and so when I make a recommendation, their support for it going forward, we need to make sure that we're communicating together," Hicks said. "And also I'm still open to people offering ideas and suggestions in this process, and I have less than 30 days to figure it out."

Call Safiya Merchant at 966-0684. Follow her on Twitter: @SafiyaMerchant