09/20/12 The topic of Culver’s School Board Meeting on Monday September 17th was enrollment. The official count was released and enrollment is down again this year. The numbers are Culver Elementary went from 498 to 480, the middle school was 187 to 165 and the High School was 271 to 261. The elementary lost 18, the middle school 22, and the High School is down 10. All together the Culver School system has lost 11% of its population.
Brad Schultz the Superintendent made it very clear saying “If you are looking for a pattern or one school that just simply is not the case”. Mr. Schultz went on to say, “80 families moved out of the area and only 60 moved in to the area. 13 students went to Culver Academy, and 17 students used the choice option.
“This is a matter of not having affordable housing and jobs in our community, it is that simple.” Of the 17 students making a choice of schools, four have decided to go to Plymouth, four to Winamac, four went to Knox, and four are being home schooled. A couple of children were incarcerated.
The meeting went on to discuss the adoption of specific Indiana codes in the Culver School system. One was regarding the use of school email for campaign purposes and the other was code 3131 which indicated when reducing the workforce one must consider performance and not longevity. Brad Schultz again stated, “This will come into play in the spring when we in fact have to reduce our workforce.”
Rhonda Reinhold Correspondent
