SOUTH BEND â Despite pleas from parents, some school board members, and others to delay the move, the South Bend school board voted Monday to close Hay and Tarkington elementary schools.
After more than two and a half hours of informational presentations and questions, the board voted to shutter the schools at the end of this school year as a first step in Superintendent Todd Cummingsâ districtwide ârightsizing.â
Before the vote, Jeanette McCullough, an at-large board member, moved to table the measure, but the effort failed.
During the administrationâs discussion of the closure recommendations, board members questioned which schools the affected students will be sent to and debated what that will mean for class sizes.
South Bend Schools Take Page From IPS In Restructuring Plan
SOUTH BEND, Ind. Schools may look a little different next year in South Bend are likely to close in the coming months if the school board approves a plan to close two elementary schools.
The plan would be to close Hay and Tarkington Elementary Schools in the spring and create an “innovation zone” at two other under-performing elementary schools.
Though the plan makes sense from a dollars and cents standpoint, according to Supt. Todd Cummings. He added that the plan is based solely on academic performance. He said right now many South Bend students are lacking in that regard.