This is part of an awesome handout that was researched and written by Kathy Escott, a Williams community member. She also included suggestions for how you can help save Williams School. I have included those suggestions on the What Can I Do? page that you can view by clicking on What Can I Do? in the header bar.
Three Rivers Business Manager David Marshall says it will cost $1.2 million for Williams School facility improvements over the next 10 years. Almost all of the buildings in the District need work, some more than Williams. It is extremely unfair to single out Williams when n o comparisons were made as to the needs of other schools in the District. It is believed than many of these items may be “nice to do” items or things that could be completed by community volunteers.
David Marshall stated the necessary improvements included expenditures such as paving the Williams School parking lot at a cost of $62,000. Williams School did not request that the parking lot be paved. Asphalt is toxic to the land and to the water table.
It was stated that the Williams School basement floods every other year and will cost $250,000 to remedy. The basement has flooded twice in the past ten years. Work was done to carry rainwater away from the school buildings a few years ago. No water has been detected in the basement since that time.
David Marshall made the comment at the Rightsizing Committee meeting that the Williams School gym was not safe. The design is the same as the Lorna Byrne gym that collapsed under three feet of snow 13 years ago. An architect examined all gyms the District 8 years ago. All gyms have been steel reinforced and are inspected on a monthly basis since 1995. A fire and safety inspection at Williams School was completed by the State Fire Marshall on 1/11/08-no hazards were found. Williams School will have an engineer (paid for by an anonymous donor) assess the structure and give a report at a Rightsizing Meeting in the near future. It should be said that Jerome Prairie Elementary and the District Office building have the exact same gym roof structure, and Applegate has a very similar design, yet none of these were deemed a problem.
Decline in enrollment is another reason used to justify closing the Williams School. Within the last year, 29 babies were born in Williams (Williams News 12/15/07). As it stands, enrollment at 90 students is the highest since 2003.
Total revenue generated by Williams School, $758,494. Williams School operating budget, $419,096. The difference goes to the District Office, which disburses the money to other District schools, bussing, food services, maintenance and District Office support.
The entire savings the District would realize if Williams School is closed is $107,000. If 16 more students enroll, or the parents of 16 students decided to withdraw from the district rather than send their children all the way to Applegate for school, the $107,000 savings would be negated.
With the Josephine County Library closure the Williams School library is the only source of reading material for our children,
The Williams School building celebrates its 85th anniversary this year. Besides being historically significant (it’s the only school building in the District that still has a working school bell), it is part of a long tradition of continuous service to many families in the community.
Special Friends and S.M.A.R.T. reading programs that enrich students’ education experience would be eliminated.
Families who said on the anonymous attendance survey they will NOT bus their children to Applegate (about 45 families or 50% of enrollment) would mean a loss of $469,909 to the District. If you are one of the families who will NOT bus your children to Applegate, write to the District and tell them that.
Williams students-even Kindergarteners-would spend 3 hours every day on an unsupervised school bus if they have to travel to Applegate School. A new bus line would have to be developed between Williams and Applegate carrying 88 students on a single bus. An article in The Daily Courier (1/18/08 front page) states that it is increasingly unsafe for children to get on and off school buses because car drivers are not obeying the flashing light signals on the buses.
Children will be groggy after riding a school bus for an hour and a half to Applegate, therefore achievement levels will fall.
No after school activities can take place if children are on a school bus for an hour and a half.
Improvements at no cost to the District that Williams residents donated to the Williams School: Through Communiversity-the computer center, computers, televisions, pre-school program, music program, and all new playground equipment. Through the community-irrigation system, plowing and planting sports fields, paving behind pump house, windows in portable classrooms and the painting of the inside of the gym.
