Huron Board of Education considers shuting down McCormick Junior High School

HURON – At a special Huron Board of Education meeting on Friday, the board discussed what would happen if the tax levy fails in November.

Superintendent John Ruf said that the man who was brought in to lead the new levy committee said that he would only be the chair of the committee if he could have a co-chair. According to Ruf, the district spoke to people about them getting the co-chair position; however, they were unable to find someone who would want the co-chair position.

Ruf also said that the levy has low community support at the time. He said that many people are angry at the district due to the board implementing pay to play sports and removing bussing after the levy failed in May. He also pointed out that support is low after multiple lawsuits were filed against the district earlier this year and after concerns were raised about district employees using district resources and time for activities supporting the May tax levy. He also pointed out that some still have low trust of the district from the 2012 Fred Fox scandal.

After the announcement, the board began discussing more ideas to save money. The most popular of the ideas was to close McCormick Junior High School. The idea came from the fact that, because there are four schools in the district, the district could save money by combining some areas, like the cafeteria, in a different school. A final plan on closing McCormick Junior High School will be presented to the board in November. Treasure Randy Drewyor estimated that closing the school would save the district between $200,000 and $250,000.

The levy will continue be on the ballot this fall, even though there may be nobody to campaign for it.

You can watch the full meeting below.