Curtis School To Stay Open
By Paul Gingras

Curtis Elementary School in Portage Township will remain open next year, although school administrators and the Tahquamenon Area Schools Board of Education cannot say for certain if it will remain open in 2008/2009, or beyond. Budget problems, declining enrollment, and other factors led the board to consider closing the school. Unhappy with the prospect of losing Curtis Elementary, Portage Township residents have addressed the topic at township meetings in recent months.

To compensate for an expected $299,922 budget shortfall for the 2007/2008 school year, and to keep Curtis Elementary open, the school board passed Proposal G at its Monday, April 23, meeting. The proposal details money-saving changes in the district.

The fifth grade classroom will be eliminated, and fifth grade students will go to Newberry Elementary School next year. The fifth grade teaching position in Curtis will be reinstated in Newberry, said Judy Lee, administrative secretary to Superintendent Alice Walker.

A low student population in Portage Township is part of the reason the board considered closing Curtis Elementary. This year, there are 110 students in Curtis and 345 in Newberry Elementary. The district is trying to even out the populations at each school as much as possible.

While balanced budget proposals have been presented throughout the year, Proposal G is the most recent, said Trustee Jerry Grossman, who presented it to the board. The plan calls to cut the principal position at Newberry Middle School, currently held by Dennis Peacock. Mr. Peacock has accepted a job in another district and the Tahquamenon school board does not plan to replace him, said school board president Roy Holcomb, but will redirect his responsibilities to Elementary Coordinator Meg Hobbs and Newberry High School Principal Tonya Perry.

The board will combine classes at Curtis Elementary, lay off four teaching aides in the district, eliminate a technical assistant and a part-time custodian, reduce metal shop activities to two hours a day, and reduce health care expenses.

"Schools are in a world of hurt," Mr. Grossman said. "External forces are killing our rural schools, and Tahquamenon is no different."

A major expense for the district is transporting students. While the district makes every effort to operate its transportation system efficiently, Tahquamenon is a large district geographically, making transportation expensive.

Although some area residents are relieved that the board decided to keep Curtis Elementary open, others believe doing so jeopardizes the financial stability of Newberry schools. The board's recent budget decisions are hoped to enable to the district to keep both schools operating, Mr. Holcomb said.

Hoping to ensure that Curtis Elementary stays open, some Portage Township residents have expressed the desire to remove the school from the Tahquamenon district and operate it independently. Residents at the Portage Township Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday, May 15, asked Township Supervisor Donald Ferris if this was possible.

Mr. Ferris said this could be done in two ways: Township residents could vote to do so, or the Eastern Upper Peninsula Intermediate School District could call for a vote of all residents in the Tahquamenon school district.

Either method of removing Curtis from the district would be unlikely to pass, Mr. Ferris speculated.

Mr. Holcomb said that he has not researched the legality of the matter, but he agreed that removing the school from the district would be difficult.

If Curtis Elementary does close at some point, ownership of school property is in question.

Prior to being absorbed by the Tahquamenon school district, the school was operated by the nowdefunct Portage School District, Mr. Ferris said.

In recent months, Mr. Ferris has asked whether the school would be owned by the Tahquamenon school district or revert to the township, if it were to close.

At the May township board meeting, Mr. Ferris said the school would revert to the township. There is no deed on record showing that the property was transferred from the Portage School District to Tahquamenon.