Carrie Gosch Elementary School will be turned into a pre-K center starting in 2017-18, the district’s superintendent said.
The move comes as the school’s enrollment has dropped sharply since district officials announced they would close its former building in East Chicago’s West Calumet neighborhood last summer after lead contamination forced the evacuation of the adjacent West Calumet Housing complex.
The school’s enrollment was 312 in early June, compared to 420 in October, according to the Indiana Department of Education.
Superintendent Paige McNulty on Wednesday said the school had about 200 elementary students.
Next year, remaining Carrie Gosch students will be moved to other elementary schools including Harrison and McKinley, she confirmed.
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The district will hold an open house for parents for pre-K registration from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 28 at Carrie Gosch, 4001 Indianapolis Blvd., she said.
“We thought having all of our (pre-K) kids…in one place would be a good thing,” McNulty said.
The move may help the district secure further grants in the future, she said. It would also allow Central High School students to get the chance to work at the school across the street and eventually earn a childcare license, she said.
The former West Side Middle School was renovated last August after EPA officials said part of Carrie Gosch’s southeast parking lot would need remediation from lead contamination.
The district took out a $3 million emergency state loan for renovations and to move students to the new school. McNulty said in the past she hoped that loan would be forgiven by the state.
Currently, the district will need to start repaying the loan in January 2018, she previously told the Post-Tribune.
“We didn’t have a crystal ball, finding out this nine days before school started, I think the school board and the administration made the best decision we could make at the time,” she said Wednesday. “I think the staff has done a stellar job.”
Faced with a looming financial crisis, the district could look to cut up to $3.2 million next year as it faces twin challenges continues to deal with the fallout from the city’s lead crisis and the end of exemptions to state-mandated property tax caps in 2020.
Further cuts in 2018-19 and 2019-20 may also be likely.
The state froze East Chicago’s enrollment count for two years. Once that ends in July 2018 – counting toward the 2018-19 school year — it would lose an estimated $342,000 per month, according to officials.
Since August, the district has lost $4 million directly due to the lead crisis, McNulty has previously said. Last month, voters rejected an operating referendum by nearly a 4-1 margin.
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