Board votes: Mt. Morris junior high will close after this school year

OREGON — The Oregon School Board voted 4-2 on Monday to close the David L. Rahn Junior High in Mt. Morris after this school year despite more pleas from members of an advisory committee to keep it open.

“I am very disappointed,” said committee member Bruce Obendorf after the board’s decision. “I really thought we presented enough information to keep DLR open. I really think future revenues will show they (the school board) made a mistake.”

“We” was the advisory committee formed 60 days ago to counter a proposal by Oregon Superintendent Tom Mahoney to close the school at the end of the 2021-22 school year and move 7th and 8th grade students to the Oregon High School, located 5 miles to the east.

Obendorf, a former school board member, was one of several Mt. Morris residents and officials who compiled information in a 100-page Power Point presentation that argued the 1950s building was in “sound shape” and could still serve as a “viable educational facility.” The committee also said the district’s finances did not warrant the closing.

In May, Mahoney proposed closing DLR, the last school remaining in the village of 3,000, due to decreasing enrollments and increasing maintenance costs. The two school districts merged in 1994 after the Mt. Morris School District dissolved because of financial reasons.

Mahoney said the pros of closing DLR included: allowing junior high students to have access to additional elective courses at the high school; aligning the curriculum more closely and providing more frequent opportunities for staff to collaborate; bringing more coaches/sponsors to a building where some sports/activities have no coaches in the building; and allowing for more staff collaboration while also giving younger athletes more immediate exposure to older athletes.

Obendorf said the advisory committee’s findings thought Mahoney’s financial rationale to be incorrect.

“The last two school years’ financial statements were balanced and produced a surplus of $780,000. Fund balance reserves grew from $8.7 million to $9.5 million in the last two years,” said Obendorf before the board vote. “The superintendent agrees that the district will have a balanced budget for the current school year and next two years. We both agree these balanced budgets can continue due to increased EAVs (Equalized Assessed Valuations) over the next 5 years.”

In May, Mahoney said it took him 3 years to come to the conclusion to recommend closing the 66-year-old school. He said the building needs $6 million in repairs and is costing the district’s budget about $400,000 a year. He said other measures to cut spending over the last 5 years have already been undertaken, including cutting the teaching staff 14% and the administrative staff 28%.

He also said the most recent setback for the district was the results of the state-required 10-year Health, Life, Safety survey of the district buildings that concluded nearly $6 million in state-mandated improvements are needed, including asbestos removal, at DLR. The school district could issue bonds to pay for the work, which would then be passed on to taxpayers as debt-service, Mahoney said.

On Monday, Obendorf said an architect who toured the building with advisory committee members found the structure to be structurally sound and determined it would not require millions in repairs. He said the $6 million estimate was “very misleading” and only $405,000 in repairs were deemed to be “urgent” in the survey.

“The remaining $4.4 million were listed as recommended, but not required. The key point is that required renovations for DLR are not $6 million or $2 million, but $400,000,” Obendorf said.

Village President Phil Labash said closing DLR would not be in the best interest of students, the school district or the Village of Mt. Morris.

“The estimated savings of that result in the closing DLR is $200,000 annually. The citizens advisory board has show beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is no longer a projected deficit,” Labash said. “Is $200,000 in annual savings worth it? This savings represents a little over 1% of the district’s total budget. The long term ramifications of a drastic move like this are far reaching for students and our communities for years to come.”

School board member Corey Buck, a Mt. Morris resident, disagreed.

“I’ve lived in Mt. Morris for 51 years. I’ve heard Mt. Morris is going to die at least five times,” said Buck referring to the closures of major employers who have closed or moved out of town. “Mt. Morris is not going to die. Mt. Morris is resilient.”

Buck, who voted in favor of the closure, said the school board must prepare for rising costs and salaries. “Our district is not financially flush,” he said. “Delaying tough decisions is no good for anyone and has gotten us into trouble in the past and will get us into trouble in the future.”

But board member Molly Baker said she believed having a separate middle school would still be best for students and it worried that it would be unlikely that a referendum would pass if the district closes DLR and then needs to build a new school if enrollments increase.

“I’m not saying we might have to eventually close DLR, but I don’t think it’s now,” Baker said, who along with Mindy Nesemeier, voted not to close the school.

Board member Mike Guzman said projects for increased EAVs were just projections. “They are higher now, but there will come a time when housing values are not as high. So financially for me, it makes sense to vote for this,” Guzman said. “The best decisions are made when you are not in a dire situation.”

School Board President Bryan Wills said no board member wanted to close DLR.

“Obviously, no one up on the board wanted to close the building. This was purely a financial decision,” he said after the meeting. “Our revenues look strong, but our expenses are spiraling out of control. I’ve been on the board for 10 years and we are constantly cutting and cutting as opposed to offering more for the students.”

He said closing DLR would help the district get rid of some expenses and instead allow the board to focus on spending reserves and surpluses on “programs, teachers, professional development, and curriculum to really give the students a better educational experience”. Wills did not cast a vote because the board president doesn’t vote unless there is a tie.

But after the vote, Obendorf said closing DLR was not needed, based on his financial calculations.

“I was convinced until the vote that they would vote to keep Rahn Junior High so it is disappointing not only for Mt. Morris but disappointing for the entire district and children in the Oregon School District,” Obendorf said. “The finances in the district are solid. There’s money there to support a junior high.”