With a Committee of Ten now set for the Brownstown and St. Elmo School Districts, work now begins on the process of gathering information and meeting deadlines to put the issue of a consolidation between the two districts on March 2016 ballot. A good amount of the information that studied will be a lot of numbers. And, St. Elmo Superintendent Deb Philpot says that will include enrollment numbers, class size numbers and programs that have had to be cut from the schools.
Philpot cited the high school music program at Brownstown being cut this year as tough calls school districts are having to make with reduced state funding.
As the two districts and the committee gather information gathering and educate the public, Brownstown Superintendent Adam Bussard says one of the most important thing is that the process is transparent.
The first deadline in the process of getting a consolidation question on the March ballot will be getting a petition to the Regional Office of Education the week of September 14.