Like it or not, there’s some major changes coming to Elkhart Community Schools.
School board members have passed the consolidation proposal called “The Elkhart Promise.” Some parents are threatening to pull their kids from the district, according to the Elkhart Truth.
Among other things, it result in the consolidation of Elkhart Memorial and Elkhart Central High Schools. Freshmen will attend classes at Elkhart Central, while sophomores, juniors and seniors will attend classes at Elkhart Memorial.
Elkhart Central High School would now become home to not just ninth graders, but also some sixth, seventh, and eighth graders through a distinct middle school wing. North Side and West Side middle schools would house the majority of those students, with expansions at the schools planned as a result.
Pierre Moran middle school would become a magnet school as well as the home of the school administrative offices. The current administrative office, at the J.C. Rice Educational Services Center, would become a high school “business innovation department.”
The new plan removes Pierre Moran Middle and Bristol and Monger elementary schools from consideration from serving pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade students going forward due to costs, among other reasons.
So where do elementary students go in the new plan? The other, roomier elementary schools. With sixth-graders going to the middle schools, about 40 classrooms open up at the elementary schools. This could open the expansion of pre-kindergarten programs.
The plan could take three to five years to come to fruition. That includes more approvals from the school board and future funding.
