Feasibility Study 2022-2023

Meetings to reimagine Elkhart Community Schools on hold until new superintendent is in place

A national solutions firm hired by Elkhart Community Schools identified multiple themes for the district to examine in order to reimagine the district.

School IQ looked at demographics, education, facilities, business and human resources and community engagement while identifying the themes.

Themes included enrollment challenges, improved academics, leadership development, safety and discipline, stronger relationships with diverse populations and Elkhart Area Career Center expansion.

A Key Committee was created and in charge of making sound, affordable and acceptable recommendations to the Board of School Trustees.

Meetings were regularly scheduled in January, and while they were quite time-consuming, they allowed for an analysis of all ECS facilities and a projection showing a loss of 1000 to 1400 students over the next decade.

Only a few themes were addressed, though the Board of School Trustees and the Key Committee have decided to postpone their meeting until further notice, allowing the Board time to complete its superintendent search process so the new superintendent can contribute to the strategic planning process.

School district postpones final feasibility study meeting

ELKHART — Elkhart Community Schools has postponed its final Key Committee meeting for its feasibility study, school officials announced in a news release on Wednesday.

The board said it wanted first to complete its search for a new superintendent and to take some time to consider some of the larger issues involved in charting a fresh direction.

School IQ, a national solutions firm, was hired to assist the district in meeting the district’s challenges through a process known as “feasibility.”

As part of the process, School IQ identified multiple themes that the district needs to examine to reimagine Elkhart Community Schools. These included enrollment challenges, improved academics, leadership development, safety and discipline, stronger relationships with diverse populations, and Elkhart Area Career Center expansion.

The five elements of the feasibility process are demographics, education, facilities, business and human resources, and community engagement.

With community input being essential, a Key Committee was created composed of diverse populations and charged with making educationally sound, fiscally affordable, and community-acceptable recommendations to the Board of School Trustees, the district said in a release.

School IQ also requested that three board members and the superintendent attend all Key Committee meetings. The firm’s participation was restricted to responding to questions from the committee without voicing its thoughts or opinions.

To become fully aware of Elkhart Community Schools’ challenges, the Key Committee began regularly scheduled meetings in January. Those meetings were intensive and time-consuming, the release said.

The Key Committee received an analysis of all ECS facilities and a demographic projection showing that ECS will lose 1,000 to 1,400 students over the next 10 years. Elkhart Schools has a capacity for 17,000 students and a current enrollment of about 11,000.

Additional elements the Committee researched included building capacity, grade-configuration patterns, ECS’s debt service, transportation issues, and potential revenue loss due to the lack of space at Elkhart’s Career Center. The work of the Key Committee specifically addressed only a few of the themes identified early in the feasibility process.

To more fully explore these themes and engage in a thorough approach to reimagining the district, the board and the Key Committee have decided to postpone its final meeting until further notice.

The pause will allow the Board time to complete the superintendent search process so that the new superintendent can contribute to the feasibility and strategic planning process, the district said.

Steve Thalheimer in February announced he would resign from the superintendent post after four years with the district. His resignation is effective June 30.

Additional updates will be forthcoming as the board moves through the process, the release said. More information on the feasibility study and the superintendent search is available on the ECS website.

Elkhart committee could make school district-changing recommendations to school board soon

Kristin Bien, WSBT 22 Operation Education Reporter | Wed, March 22nd 2023, 5:53 PM EDT

ELKHART, Ind. (WSBT) — Alarming new numbers show not only are fewer school-aged children living in the Elkhart School district, but enrollment in schools is declining as well.

This information is something a community committee is looking into right now.

Elkhart Community Schools is undergoing a long-term feasibility study that could results in a restructuring or closing of some buildings.

The school district partnered with a consulting firm to gather data and feedback.

The firm conducted a building and facility study, gathered feedback through surveys, interviews, and focus groups, and performed a demographic study on Elkhart and Elkhart Community Schools.

After the Elkhart School Board voted to restructure Hawthorne Elementary in 2022 there was anger and frustration from some in the community.

Board leaders now say, this type of data and information could have helped in that decision making process.

The data gathering portion of the feasibility study is now complete.

A key community committee made up of business leaders, parents, and community members, is evaluating what was collected.

Committee Members

According to the Elkhart Community School’s website, the Key Community Committee is composed of teachers, support staff, administrators, business leaders, civic leaders, non-profit leaders, parents, and senior citizens.

The district has listed all 40 members of the committee including a parent who lives within the Elkhart Community Schools boundaries but no longer sends her children to school in the district and a community member with no school-aged children.

The committee has been meeting to go over the information collected from surveys and focus groups, as well as evaluate the data about ECS school facilities and community demographics.

Following their evaluation, the committee will develop recommendations for the school board.

Scott Matthews is on the Key Community Committee.

Matthews grew up in Elkhart and now lives in an Elkhart neighborhood with his family.

“So, me and my wife have three kids Tyren, Maliya and Ava,” says Matthews.

His oldest is 13 years old and his youngest is five.

When he is not helping his kids with homework or watching them from the sidelines at their sporting events, Matthews is a pastor.

You can catch him every Sunday at River Oaks Church Elkhart Campus.

For Matthews, community is important.

“Just seeing our kids growing up with the people they going to school with was really important to us,” says Matthews as he looks out onto the cul-de-sac in front of his house where there is a basketball net.

Matthews says in the summertime, the neighborhood kids will gather to play, eat popsicles, and ride bikes.

Along with many of the neighbors, his kids go to Elkhart Community Schools.

When school district leaders asked him to join the key community committee and help come up with ideas to improve the district, he said yes.

“Getting that call was a no brainer for me because we want to be involved,” says Matthews.

Demographic Study of Elkhart

Matthews and the other 39 key committee members understand that the recommendations they may end up making to the school board, might not be popular amongst everyone.

“You are going to have pushback and support regardless of which way you go,” says Matthews, “I think you are just going to have tell folks, the numbers are what the numbers are, and we have to do what is in the best interest of the students and the schools money.”

The committee could make recommendations that include major changes like closing buildings or reconfiguring the way the district is set up.

“To be realistic, everything is on the table,” says Matthews, “managing change is hard. Just helping people see the future and the growth is tough but nothing is really off the table.”

New data, released last month by the consulting firm helping the district with its feasibility study, showed dramatic declines in enrollment numbers over the past few years.

In a school board work session last month, board members heard from the firm about the study.

The data showed enrollment decreased because of the pandemic and has not recovered.

The data suggested, the merging of the two high schools might have triggered more students to leave.

The study also showed that 98 percent of the students who leave Elkhart Schools are attending other nearby public-school districts – particularly Concord Community Schools.

The data also showed enrollment of Hispanic students had increased dramatically over the past decade while enrollment of white students had decreased.

Some board members described the results as “emotional.”

“It just kind of confirms what we already knew, so for me, emotional, not so much,” says Matthews, “it was just okay, let’s get to work.”

Not a moment too soon.

The study also projected enrollment in Elkhart Community Schools would continue to decrease over the next 10 years.

“Some of the information we have to face is tough,” says School Board President Dacey Davis, “it is uncomfortable, but these are things we have to work through to get us over the other side of these challenges.”

Declining enrollment in Elkhart is not an anomaly.

“Right-sizing,” as many call it is something many urban school districts in the state are having to do.

Committee members and school leaders say the data is eye opening and underlines the urgency of making a long-term plan for the district.

“Because, where we are at is where we are at and we have to face that reality to make good choices for the future,” says Davis.

The Next Steps

The committee has already started meeting and it is expected to make its recommendations to the school board at the end of the school year.

The district is also in the midst of a search for a superintendent.

Davis says the board will likely wait to vote on the recommendations until after a superintendent is hired.

Tim Shelly is a familiar face at Elkhart School Board meetings, and he is also on the key committee.

Shelly has lived in this historic mansion near downtown Elkhart for 30 years.

“I love the old neighborhood here,” says Shelly, “great neighbors. Great community.”

As an Elkhart resident, he cares about the success of the school district.

“I think anybody who has either a real estate investment or children in the community should really have some type of heightened interest in the success of the school corporation,” says Shelly.

Shelly was asked to be on the key committee because he is also a school corporation attorney.

“A lot of people view that schools should be operating like private industry. Unfortunately, they are not able to necessarily do that. There is a lot of limitations from a legal standpoint,” says Shelly.

As lawyer who has been to over 2,000 school board meetings, he knows what the results of big decisions could mean which is why he says the committee is needed in Elkhart now.

“There is nothing different that Elkhart is dealing with from South Bend, Warsaw schools, even small school corporations. They are all dealing with the flatlining of growth,” says Shelly, “we need to have some candid discussions.”

Both Shelley and Matthews have different but personal stakes in the future of Elkhart.

They both hope to have a role in making the school corporation better for everyone.

“It is going to be tough,” says Matthews, “hopefully in the long run, we can look back in 10 years and say, man that was hard, but it was the right call, and we are glad we did it. More families are served, more teachers and staff feel supported, and we are better in the long run.”

As enrollment drops, Elkhart Schools undergoes major study that could reshape the district

Kristin Bien, WSBT 22 Operation Education Reporter | Mon, March 20th 2023, 5:20 PM EDT

ELKHART, Ind. (WSBT) — Major changes could be on the way for Elkhart Community Schools.

The district is doing a long-term feasibility study which could result in a restructuring or closing some buildings.

Elkhart schools partnered with a consulting firm to gather up data and feedback about the district.

Elkhart Schools undergoes major study that could reshape the district (WSBT)

A committee will go through the information and make recommendations to the school board.

What sparked this study?

Nearly one year ago, Board President Dacey Davis and four other members of the Elkhart School Board, voted to restructure Hawthorne Elementary into a Pre-K center.

The district is doing a long-term feasibility study which could result in a restructuring or closing some buildings. (WSBT Photo)

After much public input and debate between board members, the board ultimately voted to approve the motion five to two at the April 12th, 2022, school board meeting.

The board argued they were doing what was best for students and the community.

“I will vote yes tonight because I can’t look into the eyes of these students and do nothing,” then school board member Babette Boling said to a large crowd gathered at the meeting prior to the vote.

School leaders had said the change was needed because of finances, staffing shortages, and declining enrollment.

“We just hate to see all of our kids separated and moved apart in different directions. We just need to stay together,” said one Hawthorne teacher at a protest outside the school days before the final vote.

Some parents and teachers were angry and frustrated by the decision.

After that decision, Davis says, school leaders knew they needed to take a step back.

“We listened; we gave people a seat. We are responsive and we are respectful of what the community needs, and we have kind of course corrected on how we navigate making major decisions,” says Davis.

The Feasibility/Facility Study Begins

In September, the district teamed up with a consulting firm and invited the community to come along.

“This is an important process we are embarking on,” Davis said at town hall meeting on September 14th, “what is most important to the administration and the board is that we are making decisions that you support. We are moving in a direction that the community can stand behind us. but we are also making decisions that are best for the kids.”

The school district partnered with School IQ/SitelogIQ to do the study.

According to the company’s website, it partners with clients in K-12 public and private schools to do a “comprehensive assessment” of facilities and understand the district and community to develop a “project plan.”

According to the company, in 2015 and 2016 it worked with La Porte Community Schools on the same issues.

“People wanted to be involved. They wanted a seat at the table and that is one reason we went with SitelogIQ because they were so focused on community engagement,” says Davis.

So far, the study has included a building and facility study, community and staff surveys, interviews with staff, focus groups and a demographic study.

As the company has gathered its information, it has presented it to the school board and community.

On January 17th, the building and facilities evaluation was released.

On January 30th, the school board received the results from surveys.

Finally, last month, the school board learned the results of the demographic study.

All the information gathering is complete.

Now, with help from SitelogIQ facilitators, a key community committee is meeting regularly to go through the information.

Digging Deeper

“So, the next step is, lets dig deeper into the data, let the data tell the story, and create a foundation so the key committee has something to base their options on. They can clearly weigh the options and come up with some options for the board to vote on that can be supported by the community but also are fiscally responsible,” says Davis.

The committee is made up of 40 community members including teachers, support staff, administrators, business leaders, civic leaders, nonprofit leaders, parents, and senior citizens.

Davis, two other board members, and the current superintendent also serve on the key committee as non-participating members to observe, provide background information, and answer questions,” according to the district’s website.

Davis admits this deep dive into Elkhart Community Schools is something that would have helped the district navigate previous changes in the district.

“I would say probably the repurposing of Hawthorn,” says Davis, “it just wasn’t navigated as best as we could. We didn’t provide a good rationale; we didn’t communicate well, and we really learned a lot from that experience.”

Plus, she says one of the major takeaways from the Hawthorne decision was, “we had to take a broader look at what was happening in the district and that was not something we could do on own as far as collecting the data, analyzing the data. So, it was something we had to do in order to get the information that we needed to right size the district.”

“Right-sizing” the school district

“Right-sizing” is something many urban school districts in the state are having to do.

After years of declining enrollment, nearby South Bend Community School Corporation is undergoing a master facilities study.

The consulting firm working with SBCSC is presenting its recommendation to the school board and the community Monday night.

In Elkhart, the demographic study released in February showed the city of Elkhart, with its population of around 77,000 people, is “at best flat and most likely declining” in the number of school-aged children.

The study showed enrollment in Elkhart Community Schools, the county's largest school district, is declining, especially in the past five years.

“I would say the biggest surprise and toughest report to go through was the demographics,” says Davis, “people were not prepared. Some of the information we have to face is tough.”

Davis points to the numbers showing the percentage of Hispanic students attending Elkhart schools has increased dramatically over the past 10 years while the percentage of white students has dropped.

Not only that, but the demographer suggested that another major change in Elkhart, the merging of the two high schools in 2020, likely triggered more students to leave the district.

“It got very emotional,” says Davis, “it is uncomfortable, but these are things we have to work through to get us over the other side of these challenges.”

The next steps

Unfortunately, Davis says some of what the feasibility study has shown so far, has signaled different decisions could lie ahead.

“This isn’t a decision that everyone will be 100 percent happy with. But we have got to do what is best for the kids educationally and the district fiscally and what the community will support,” says Davis.

Davis hopes the information gathered and the key committee's insight will help grow the schools and the community.

“Everybody who lives in Elkhart should be invested in this process because education, our school system, our district is a driving force for the economy,” says Davis.

The Key Committee has already started meeting to look at what has been gathered.

The committee is expected to make its recommendations to the school board by the end of the school year.

The school district is in the middle of a search for a new superintendent.

Davis says the board will likely hold off on making a decision based on the committee’s recommendations, until after the new superintendent is hired.

Demographer: School enrollment in Elkhart will continue to drop

ELKHART — An ongoing decline in Elkhart Community Schools enrollment won’t be waning anytime soon, according to new projections.

Independent demographer Hazel Reinhardt presented an updated enrollment projection to the school board on Tuesday during a public work session where she shared that ECS can expect to continue seeing decreased enrollment.

The report is part of a feasibility study the district is conducting to help guide future education policies.

The district’s official reported fall enrollment is 11,319, down 1,459 students or 11.5 percent from 10 years ago. Most of this decrease occurred in the past five years when enrollment decreased by 1,316 students, Reinhardt said.

While she couldn’t pinpoint the cause, Reinhardt said numbers suggest that the enrollment decrease was more rapid once the merging of the two high schools was announced.

“I have scoured the internet for data and I know when it first appeared in newspapers and the numbers suggest there’s a correlation,” she said. “I cannot say it’s for sure cause and effect, but it appears to me that (the merger) triggered an increase in decline.”

Eleven other school corporations account for 98.4 percent of parent-choice outgoing students. Concord Community Schools received the largest number of outgoing Elkhart students from 2017 to 2022, with Penn-Harris-Madison being the next highest, Reinhardt said.

“Concord is a school corporation very similar to Elkhart in that it is a majority-minority school corporation as well as one with a high percentage of free-reduced meal students,” she said.

Reinhardt said there are many possible reasons for the net loss of public transfer students. Some reasons include proximity to another district’s school(s), personal convenience, such as before and after school daycare, program specialty, the composition of the student body such as the racial and ethnic makeup and social-economic status.

Of the 11 corporations receiving 98.4 percent of Elkhart outgoing students, 66.7 percent are attending a district with a total enrollment that is less than half of Elkhart, 58.6 percent are attending a district where more than 60 percent of students are white and 51.1 percent are attending a district where less than half of the students are free/reduced meal students, according to Reinhardt.

Peering into the next decade, the enrollment projections are not promising.

Reinhardt told the school board that enrollment is projected to decrease from the current 11,319 to 9,757 in the next decade, a 12.7 percent loss.

Kindergarten is projected to be larger than the previous year’s Grade 12. Net out migration is projected to continue but at a slower rate, averaging 243 to 284 per year. The past 10-year average is 253 and the past five-year average is 347, she said.

From 2022-23 to 2027-28, Reinhardt projects that K-6 enrollment will decrease by 390 students or 6.4 percent. Some schools, such as Eastwood Mary Beck, Pinewood and Riverview, have projected enrollment increases.

Meanwhile, some have projected enrollment decreases with the largest declines being at Bristol and Osolo. Modest decreases, Reinhardt projects, will be at Beardsley, Cleveland, Mary Feeser and Woodland. Roosevelt may be under-projected.

As for the middle school, Reinhardt shared that enrollment is projected to decrease by 123 students or 7.3 percent. The largest projected decrease is at West Side Middle School, while a small increase is expected at Pierre Moran Middle School.

She also said class enrollment could gradually decline based on falling fertility rates, the pandemic and an aging population.

Board member Jeff Bliler said the district can’t just assume there will be a 12.7 percent decrease in enrollment over the next decade without examining why.

“These projections will be too high if more students choose other education options and too low if we can just retain more of our students, and they’ll be even lower if we can get our students back,” he said.

Board member Anne VonDervellen said the district has to come up with a plan for growth.

“One of the things people have talked about is being known as an education destination; that’s what the merger was supposed to do and yet we’ve lost 1,500 students since then,” she said. “So, as a district and as a board we have to be thinking about what we have to focus on to be that destination district, and to grow and maintain and retain regardless of the low birthrates or if the demographics show it’s going down.”

VonDervellen said the other districts are farming Elkhart’s students and in a school-of-choice environment, ECS has to get more competitive.

“We have to come up with a plan that while we may have to close some schools, how are we going to make it so the results are better for our students and the educational outcomes,” she said.

Board president Dacey Davis reminded the public that Tuesday’s report is a small part of the feasibility study process and the board and administration will vet all additional options as they continue to go through the information from the study.

“We’re all going to look at the numbers and come up with some solutions that work for the majority of people based on that input,” she said.

The school board is expected to vote on the recommendations of the key committee in the spring.

Additional information about the ECS Feasibility/Facility Study can be found at elkhart.k12.in.us/feasibility.

School District Focus Groups Share Issues, Solutions

ELKHART — Tough learning environments, lack of support for staff and behavioral challenges were issues community members repeatedly shared during a forum to help guide Elkhart Community Schools’ future.

The district partnered with School IQ/SitelogIQ last spring to complete a long-term feasibility/facility study. To date, the agency has completed a full evaluation and analysis of ECS properties and building assets, collected community input through surveys, and begun a long-range demographic study of the ECS district, officials said.

With this work underway, ECS held the first of its focus group sessions Tuesday night that centered around themes identified through community surveys to gather input about various areas of the focus groups.

The forum was split into two 50-minute sessions, one held in the high school’s library and another in the cafeteria. Themes ranged from losing students, staff and families to school safety, security and discipline.

At one session, attendees split into four groups and collectively shared top issues and potential solutions for the district.

Speaking for his group, Elkhart City Councilman Dwight Fish (D-4) said he believes there are a lot of misperceptions about what the district offers. But one of the biggest problems, he said, is that staff does not feel supported at the district level on down.

“There’s a disconnect between the district level, communication, teachers and staff,” he said. “As far as the community, they feel disconnected from what everyone needs in terms of support. Yes, you can put more money into buildings, but staff needs to be paid for and more support needs to go into those buildings.”

A few parents said they transferred their children to other school districts because of the high student-teacher ratio making it difficult for their children to get the proper attention they need in classrooms.

“The student-teacher ratio has to get under control because there’s a lot of student mixing in the classrooms,” one parent said. “High-ability, special needs and disabled students under one pot is not helpful. There are too many learning levels happening in one classroom.”

Megan Anagnos, a parent and speech pathologist at the district’s PACE (preschool assisting children’s education) program, said she believes the negative news at the district is highlighted far more than the district’s accomplishments.

“We need to celebrate some of the successes happening here like the high graduation rates,” she said. “This school district will only make it with the community’s support. Without it, we’re going to have a failing school district and it’s going to be on us.”

Another parent, Rachel Van Alstine, said she appreciates how the issues are being brought to the forefront because for years she said she believes they were ignored.

“There’s bullying and unhealthy environments that our children are living in right now,” she said. “I’m glad we’ve crossed a threshold that we’re not going to be silent anymore because our kids here are dying and taking their lives … it’s that legit in our very close-knit community. So, yes we need to celebrate the positives, but when there are issues, silence is not the answer.”

Brandi Fontes, a registered nurse at Pierre Moran Middle School, said although she understands the issues and concerns the community may have, she believes sometimes people undermine how hard the staff works, which she said is discouraging.

“From a staff standpoint, the community doesn’t know how hard the vast majority of us work and when we hear some of the generalizations made by the community, especially on social media, it beats you down,” she said. “We’re human too and it can get hard to take and then we feel like the community doesn’t support us, so many will then go somewhere that does.”

A second focus group forum was scheduled for Wednesday at the high school.

A key committee formed by the consultant will examine the results from the study and make recommendations to the school board for what they believe the best steps moving forward will be.

The school board is expected to vote on the recommendations of the key committee in the spring.

Additional information about the ECS Feasibility/Facility Study can be found at elkhart.k12.in.us/feasibility.

Public invited to Elkhart Community Schools focus group discussions

ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. - The public is invited to the second of two focus group discussions Wednesday night at Elkhart High School.

The focus groups are designed to encourage feedback from the community on things like school district leadership, school safety, discipline and funding.

Two focus group sessions will be held at 6 p.m., followed by two more sessions at 7 p.m.

Each session is expected to last 50 minutes.

Translators will be available at all sessions to accommodate the community's Spanish-speaking population.

The last session of the evening, Improving the Educational Experience for Latino Families, will be exclusively in Spanish.

Registration for sessions is encouraged.

Click here to register.

Elkhart Schools gathering community feedback to guide future changes

ELKHART, Ind. (WSBT) — Those who attend Elkhart Community Schools will have the opportunity to share their thoughts on the district at focus groups being held Tuesday and Wednesday night.

The goal of these sessions is to gather community feedback.

There are four topics set to be discussed:

6:00 p.m. - Loss of Students, Families and Staff
6:00 p.m. - Public Relations and Community Perceptions
7:00 p.m. - Trust and Faith in District Leadership
7:00 p.m. - School Safety, Security and Discipline

The Superintendent, Steve Thalheimer, says the results of these sessions will help guide future decisions.

"The feasibility process that we are doing right now. Looking at the condition of our buildings, our programming, our future demographics, all of those things are helping us take a look at all of that from a 30,000 foot view and then be able to come back and look at particular options," said Thalheimer.

All focus group sessions will be held at Elkhart High and are open to everyone.

 

Elkhart Schools: low response to survey, asking for feedback at in-person meetings

ELKHART, Ind.- Elkhart Community Schools (ECS) is seeking more feedback through multiple in-person meetings beginning Feb. 7 at 6 p.m.

The feasibility survey put out previously did not yield enough information in terms of responding.

ECS is asking those who wish to attend to first register ahead of time through the link on their Facebook page which can also be found here.

School feasibility survey gets meager response

ELKHART — Response rates to a feasibility survey used to help guide education policy for Elkhart Community Schools were exceptionally low, results show, which could make it difficult to get an accurate gauge of how district families and staff really feel.

The school district has a community population of 75,000 and a student population of 11,000. Of those numbers, just under 1,000 people completed the survey, school officials revealed at a public work session on Monday night.

“I would have absolutely liked to have had more responses,” said Del Jarman, director of the feasibility study. “In some of the surveys we had 500 responses, and some 700 to 800 responses. Most were in the 900 range.”

The survey, conducted before Christmas, was part of a broad initiative taking shape, with help of Minneapolis consulting firm School IQ and SitelogIQ that will help the school board understand what the community wants and what is feasible and what the district should focus on in years ahead as demographics change, in terms of facilities and in relation to programming.

Survey results

The first portion of the survey asked participants their thoughts on the district’s safety, security and discipline policies and 907 participants completed it.

The results from the survey indicated that a majority of responders think there is a clearly defined plan and that schools are safe, but that parents are divided as to how safe schools are.

Responders said they do believe there’s a problem with bullying, harassment, violence and substance abuse. They also said there is a need for more security officers and cameras at all schools, and said there aren’t enough suspensions and expulsions.

The survey regarding student, family and staff loss drew a response from 881 people. The results show that 91 percent of students leave or transfer from ECS for a better learning environment, 85 percent for better educational opportunities, 64 percent for athletics, 54 percent for family relocation, and 53 percent because it’s more convenient for the parents.

The results also show that the majority of respondents believe there is no defined plan to keep or attract students, families or staff to ECS.

Meanwhile, responses from the school facilities, funding and salary survey show that more than 80 percent understand the financial challenges that ECS faces because of declining enrollment, but perceive that fiscal decisions are not based on what is best for students. An overwhelming majority of respondents believe the district is not competitive in salary, benefits and working conditions.

The survey on developing and improving community connections received completed responses from 780 people. As a whole, the community feels it is welcomed and has pride in ECS, but there are separate pockets that do not, the results indicate.

Many also expressed they believed the communications at the district are valuable, easy to navigate and up to date. School board president Dacey Davis, however, noted that communication has been a consistent issue at the district.

“I don’t want to gloss over this section like 700-some people represent the overall of ECS because communication is a problem we have,” she said. “So whether we’re putting out a lot of communication or if it’s not what people are asking for, want to hear or timely or clear, it’s counterproductive. We know communication is an issue and we’re working hard to provide information that people want and need and in a timely manner.”

The survey on public relations and community perceptions drew completed responses from 578 people. The results indicate that the majority of responders think ECS is not seen as an “Educational Leader” in northern Indiana.

Additionally, the results show that the majority of responders are aware and understand there are financial challenges facing ECS as a result of declining enrolment. The majority also do not believe the district has made sound fiscal decisions based on what’s best for the students.

What drew the most responses was the survey on trust and faith in district leadership. In total, 967 people completed this survey. The results show that the majority of responders believe that district leadership, building administration and school board members are dedicated to the academic success and well-being of Elkhart’s children.

Low response rates

School board member Troy Scott expressed his disappointment with the low survey participation and said he was hoping 2,500 to 4,000 had completed it to give the district a good benchmark.

Jarman replied that he was disappointed that the survey didn’t get more results from staff. After speaking with staff members, he said many didn’t believe their concerns would matter.

“We had staff who said they’ve taken surveys and no one does anything about it,” he said. “It’s a lack of trust and I think that came to us rather loud and clear.”

Newly elected board member Jeff Bliler questioned the relevance of the survey data with there being low participation in responses. Jarman said the surveys are not the most critical part of the feasibility study.

“As limited as it is, the results gave us something to go on,” Jarman said. “What’s most critical is where we are now and when we go and talk to people.”

Davis said she wasn’t surprised by the low participation.

“It’s unfortunate that we didn’t get more community engagement, but it’s not a shock because this is the reality of where we are with the district,” she said. “It’s also why this process is so important to give the community a seat at the table and a voice.”

Moving forward, the district will seek community feedback through a series of 50-minute focus groups.

Planned for Feb. 7 and Feb. 8, the focus group sessions will center around themes identified through the community surveys to gauge community sentiments about various areas of the district.

All focus group sessions will be held at Elkhart High School, 2608 California Road.

A key committee formed by the consultant will examine the results from the study and make recommendations to the school board for what they believe the best steps moving forward will be.

The school board is expected to vote on the recommendations of the key committee sometime in the spring.

Additional information about the ECS Feasibility/Facility Study can be found at elkhart.k12.in.us/feasibility.

Elkhart schools seeking participants for focus groups

ELKHART — Elkhart Community Schools is seeking community feedback through a series of 50-minute focus groups.

As announced in September, Elkhart Community Schools has partnered with School IQ/SitelogIQ to complete a long-term feasibility/facility study.

To date, the agency has completed a full evaluation and analysis of ECS properties and building assets, collected community input through surveys and begun a long-range demographic study of the ECS district.

With this work under way, the district is seeking additional feedback and dialogue with community members through a series of focus groups.

“Community, collaboration, cooperation, and communication are essential to making decisions that keep the district moving in the right direction,” said ECS Board of School Trustees President Dacey Davis.

“We partnered with School IQ and SitelogIQ because they prioritized community engagement as part of the feasibility study process,” Davis said. “The School Board is committed to providing opportunities for the community to have an active role, like participating in the upcoming focus groups. Educating our children and rightsizing the district is a partnership. It is a process that Elkhart Community Schools cannot embark on alone. We need the help and support of the community in this process. The upcoming focus groups are a great way for the community to share feedback with the district.”

Planned for Feb. 7 and Feb. 8, the focus group sessions will center around themes identified through the community surveys to gauge community sentiments about various areas of the district. Here are the themes of the focus groups:

Tuesday, Feb. 7

6 p.m.: Loss of Students, Families, and Staff

6 p.m.: Public Relations and Community Perceptions

7 p.m.: Trust and Faith in District Leadership

7 p.m.: School Safety, Security, and Discipline

Wednesday, Feb. 8.

6 p.m.: Collaboration between Board and District Leadership

6 p.m.: Developing/Improving Community Connections

7 p.m.: School Facilities and Funding

7 p.m.: Improving the Educational Experience for Latino Families

All focus group sessions will be held at Elkhart High School, 2608 California Road. All focus groups will have Spanish interpreters available and the eighth group session will be in Spanish only. The focus groups are open to anyone, including community members, ECS families, and ECS staff.

Individuals interested in participating are encouraged to register at https://tinyurl.com/ECS-Focus-Groups.

ABC57: Elkhart Community Schools Focus Groups

Elkhart Community Schools will be partnering for a long-term study. 

All of the buildings for Elkhart Schools were evaluated by a group called School IQ so far, and the district would like to hear from you as well. 

Next month on February Seventh and Eighth, there will be two focus groups you can attend. 

If you're interested in registering, click https://tinyurl.com/ECS-Focus-Groups.

To find out more information, click https://elkhart.k12.in.us/feasibility.

Feasibility study underway at Elkhart Community Schools

ELKHART — A feasibility study is underway to help Elkhart Community Schools improve its curriculum while also building trust with the community.

The district last spring hired a Minneapolis consulting firm, School IQ and SitelogIQ, to develop a demographic study that looks at the number of students in the district, trends in enrollment and to make projections years into the future.

Part of the overall feasibility process the consulting firm conducted was a general overview of the condition of the district’s buildings. The firm is examining the mechanical systems, learning environments, aesthetics and outside appearance of those buildings.

Superintendent Steve Thalheimer said a lot of the information from the study will be combined with what the district already knows.

“It gives us a very good sense of what condition our buildings are in,” he said. “If the demographic information comes back and tells us that enrollment is going to keep declining within the area, then we would know and have conversations about which buildings we invest in and perhaps which ones we don’t.”

Issues such as knowing the district’s facilities, where student enrollment is going to go and the work the district needs to do on academic programs are among those being examined by a key committee formed by the consultant. The committee consists of 40 people from across the community, including civic leaders, economic development leaders, people from within the school community, parents and philanthropic organizations.

The committee will examine the results from the study and make recommendations to the school board for what they believe the best steps moving forward will be.

“The key committee will have meetings over the next several weeks and receive survey results and demographic information, and then have conversations about what our options and possibilities are as a district and narrow those down to a couple of recommendations they would make to the school board,” Thalheimer said.

In an upcoming school board meeting, the board will receive survey results, conducted before Christmas, and the key committee will meet and take a look at those results.

The school board is expected to vote on the recommendations of the key committee sometime in the spring, Thalheimer said.

Elkhart Truth: Surveys seen as critical to school district's initiative

ELKHART — School leaders are encouraging residents to take a short survey that will help guide education policy for Elkhart Community Schools years into the future – and to take the survey soon.

The deadline for completing the questionnaire is Friday. It is available on the district’s website, www.elkhart.k12.in.us, on social media or on paper at any of the schools or the administration building.

The survey is part of broad initiative taking shape, with help from a consulting firm hired by the district, that will help the school board understand what the community wants and what is feasible and what the district should focus on in the years ahead as demographics change, in terms of facilities and in relation to programming.

“We want to stress that for us to be able have the broadest impression of what people are wanting us to really concentrate on, and what’s important to our school community – to have as many voices as we can on these surveys as possible – then that helps us start down this path of looking at the right things from the very beginning,” Superintendent Steve Thalheimer said.

The district in the spring hired a Minneapolis consulting firm, School IQ and SitelogIQ, to develop a demographic study that looks at the number of students in the district, trends in enrollment and to make projections five and 10 years into the future, Thalheimer said.

The second piece was to conduct a facilities study to look at all the buildings in the district to determine what their capacities are, what condition they’re in, what systems might be past their life cycle, and to do an overall analysis of all the district’s buildings.

A third portion was to develop a feasibility study, “which sort of brings everything together to look at what are the areas of focus, areas for improvement, for the district moving forward,” he said.

The consultant formed a key committee with help from the school board of more than 40 people from across the community, including civic leaders, economic development leaders, people from within the school community, parents and philanthropic organizations. The committee met for the first time earlier this month and will collect information from the public to determine what kind of issues are important to the community.

“And that’s why the surveys are so important,” Thalheimer said. “They are the first step in that process of getting perceptions and kind of getting that view from 30,000 feet of what people within the school community think about these different topics: how are things relative to safety and security, how are things related to student discipline, how are things related to communication, to the board and to superintendent and administration relations, what’s going on with community engagement? It lays the groundwork, sets the foundational impressions of what’s going on.”

The consulting firm will take information from those surveys and formulate questions before interviewing and listening to staff at every school, he said. It will then form focus groups and develop ideas and themes that come out of the surveys. Then the local committee will begin to develop options and priorities for the school board to consider.

WVPE's Kent Fulmer talks with Elkhart Community Schools Superintendent Steve Thalheimer about a survey the district is conducting:

WVPE Interview with Steve Thalheimer

ABC57: Elkhart Community Schools asking for public's feedback on district plans

ELKHART, Ind. - Officials with Elkhart Community Schools are asking for community input on a number of topics related to future school district plans. Members of the public can now take short surveys to help the district collect information.

The survey covers the following topics:

Improved collaboration and communication between board and district leadership
Developing and improving community connections
Loss of students, families, and staff to other districts
Public relations and community perceptions
School safety, security, and school discipline
Trust and faith in district leadership
Each survey takes five to seven minutes to complete.

Participants can take all of the survey or take the surveys of most interest to them.

All surveys are offered in English and Spanish.

The deadline to take the surveys is 5 p.m. on December 23.

In January, district leaders will host focus groups to discuss the findings of the surveys. Those interested in participating in a focus group can email communication@elkhart.k12.in.us with their name, home address, and role in the district (parent, teaching staff, community member, etc.).

In September, the district partnered with School IQ/Sitelogiq to create a long-term feasibility/facility study. So far, School IQ has completed a full evaluation of district properties and building assets.

The agency is now working on a demographic study of the district.

WSBT: Elkhart Community Schools: Seeking feedback with community surveys

Elkhart Community Schools needs to hear from you.

You have one week to complete your community surveys.

The district is looking for feedback as part of a long-term feasibility and facility study.

The surveys include topics such as improving communication, improving community connections, loss of students and faculty to other districts, and school safety.

Elkhart Truth: Elkhart schools seek community feedback

ELKHART — Elkhart Community Schools is seeking community feedback through a series of short surveys as the district plans for the future.

As announced in September, Elkhart Community Schools has partnered with School IQ/Sitelogiq to complete a long-term feasibility/facility study. To date, the agency has completed a full evaluation and analysis of ECS properties and building assets, and work has begun on a long-range demographic study of the ECS district. With this work under way, the district is now seeking community input related to a variety of topics.

Community survey topics include:

• Improved collaboration and communication between the board and district leadership
• Developing and improving community connections
• Loss of students, families and staff to other districts
• Public relations and community perceptions
• School safety, security and school discipline
• Trust and faith in district leadership

The district has a dedicated page containing a link to each survey: https://tinyurl.com/ECS-surveys. Each survey will take 5 to 7 minutes to complete. Respondents are invited to complete all of the surveys, or complete the surveys of most interest to them. Surveys are available in English and Spanish. Surveys will remain open through 5 p.m. on Dec. 23.

Following the conclusion of surveys, the district will host stakeholder focus groups, whose participants will be asked follow-up questions based on survey trends to help the district understand perceptions, challenges and needs. The focus group meetings are tentatively scheduled to begin in late January. Individuals interested in serving on a focus group can email communication@elkhart.k12.in.us to indicate their interest and should include their name, home address, and primary role with the district (parent/guardian, teaching staff, non-teaching staff, community member).

Other recent activity related to the study includes the formation of a Key Committee composed of teachers, support staff, administrators, business leaders, civic leaders, non-profit leaders, parents and senior citizens. This committee will centralize data from surveys and focus groups, as well as evaluate data about ECS school facilities and community demographics. Following their evaluation, the committee will develop recommendations for the school board.

 

Goshen News: Local Briefs (December 10, 2022)

ELKHART – Elkhart Community Schools is seeking community feedback through a series of short surveys as the district plans for the future.

As announced in September, Elkhart Community Schools has partnered with School IQ/Sitelogiq to complete a long-term feasibility/facility study, a news release stated.

"To date, the agency has completed a full evaluation and analysis of ECS properties and building assets, and work has begun on a long-range demographic study of the ECS district," the release stated. "With this work under way, the district is now seeking community input related to a variety of topics."

Community survey topics include: Improved collaboration and communication between board and district leadership, developing and improving community connections, loss of students, families, and staff to other districts, public relations and community perceptions, school safety, security, and school discipline and trust and faith in district leadership.

The district has a dedicated page containing a link to each survey at https://tinyurl.com/ECS-surveys. Each survey will take 5 to 7 minutes to complete.

Respondents are invited to complete all of the surveys, or complete the surveys of most interest to them. Surveys are available in English and Spanish. Surveys will remain open through 5 p.m. Dec. 23.

Following the conclusion of surveys, the district will host stakeholder focus groups, whose participants will be asked follow-up questions based on survey trends to help the district understand perceptions, challenges, and needs. The focus group meetings are tentatively scheduled to begin in late January 2023.

Individuals interested in serving on a focus group can email communication@elkhart.k12.in.us to indicate their interest and should include their name, home address, and primary role with the district (parent/guardian, teaching staff, non-teaching staff, community member).

WSBT: Months-long study looks to improve experience at Elkhart Community Schools

Elkhart, Ind. — Improving curriculum and building trust at Elkhart Community Schools; that’s the mission of a months-long study conducted by School IQ and SitelogIQ.

They're also looking into how to make classrooms better and help students and staff members overcome challenges and reach their goals.

This isn't the first study the company has done for our area schools.

In 2015 and 2016 they also worked with La Porte Community schools on the same studies.

Now, they are in Elkhart, but they need your help before they can get to work.

After speaking with board members, administration, staff, and Superintendent Steve Thalheimer, School IQ has come up with 9 key points they want the community to focus on during this feasibility study.

"1 is loss of students, families and staff here in the district, that's a major theme. 2 public relations and the way this community perceives Elkhart Schools. 3 we have some academic challenges," said Dr. Del Jarman, Director of Feasibility Study.

Other themes include curriculum, safety, school facilities, trust in the district, collaboration with school leadership, and developing and improving community connections.

"There isn’t enough time and money for us to study 100 or 200 different areas or things that we need to talk about, but these are the ones that are most important to the board and to the community," said Jarman.

Several surveys will take place with middle and high school students, school staff members, parents, and taxpayers in the school district, but first they need your help to get this ball rolling.

"We want the board to name a committee a key committee of this community between 35 and 45 members," said Jarman.

Jarman says School IQ wants members from all walks of life and backgrounds to be equally represented in this committee, so everyone's voice is heard.

"We would like to get that formed and have that ready to go early October then they can start doing those surveys and start getting the themes and collecting people’s concerns and areas of interest and areas for improvement," said Steve Thalheimer, Elkhart Community Schools Superintendent.

School IQ also says they have some homework for you: they want more community members at the next meeting.

Reach out to the Superintendent’s office if you are interested in becoming part of this committee.

WNDU: Elkhart Community Schools hosts town hall, discusses study 

ELKHART, Ind. (WNDU) - Some changes could be coming to Elkhart Community Schools.

School officials shared information about the district’s long-range facility study at a town hall Wednesday night.

The corporation said it wants to engage in a comprehensive review of both its facilities and its approach to educational programming.

That is why they hired School IQ and Sitelogiq, INC.

“I’ve done a number of these. We worked over in LaPorte Community Schools and did one for them about five years ago. Very successful, and I’ve been doing this a long time and I’m just excited to be here,” said Dr. Del Jarman with School IQ.

“It is very, very good that it helps us collect all of this information about our buildings, our programs, public perception, things we are doing academically, so overall we can have a good picture of where we are and what we need to work on going forward,” said Superintendent of Elkhart Community Schools, Steve Thalheimer.

The corporation said its goal is to provide students with a well-rounded curriculum and to use its financial resources to better support teaching and learning, as opposed to spending dollars on “ever-increasing maintenance issues.”

“With the goal being that we take that information and use that to determine how best to use our facilities, what improvements to make to our facilities...a long-term strategic plan that we would work on in the coming months,” said Thalheimer.

They want your feedback.

“We’re going to talk to every school facility member...bus drivers, cooks, custodians and then in the evening time we will be out with the community...Folks, the most important part of this whole thing is getting people to work with us in this community group and giving us your input,” said Jarman.

The process could take 8-9 months.

The corporation will be holding more town halls and focus groups soon.

Elkhart Community Schools Feasibility Key Committee Postpones Final Meeting
 
May 10, 2023 – Elkhart, IN – Faced with significant decisions in the spring of 2022 and seeking guidance on the district's challenges, Elkhart Community Schools sent a Request for Proposal (RFP) to multiple companies. School IQ, a national solutions firm, was hired to assist the district in meeting these challenges through a process known as feasibility. As part of the process, School IQ identified multiple themes that the district needs to examine to reimagine Elkhart Community Schools. These included enrollment challenges, improved academics, leadership development, safety and discipline, stronger relationships with diverse populations, and Elkhart Area Career Center expansion. 

The five elements of the feasibility process are demographics, education, facilities, business and human resources, and community engagement. With community input being essential, a Key Committee was created composed of diverse populations and charged with making educationally sound, fiscally affordable, and community-acceptable recommendations to the Board of School Trustees. School IQ also requested that three Board members and the superintendent attend all Key Committee meetings, whose participation was restricted to only responding to questions from the Committee without voicing their thoughts or opinions.     

To become fully aware of Elkhart Community Schools' challenges, the Key Committee began regularly scheduled meetings in January. Those meetings were intensive and time-consuming. The Key Committee received an analysis of all ECS facilities and a demographic projection showing that ECS will lose 1000 to 1400 students over the next ten years. Elkhart Schools has a capacity for 17,000 students and a current enrollment of approximately 11,000. Additional elements the Committee researched included building capacity, grade-configuration patterns, ECS's debt service, transportation issues, and potential revenue loss due to the lack of space at Elkhart's Career Center.   

The work of the Key Committee specifically addressed only a few of the themes identified early in the feasibility process. To more fully explore these themes and engage in a thorough approach to reimagining the district, the Board of School Trustees and the Key Committee have decided to postpone its meeting until further notice. The pause will allow the Board time to complete the superintendent search process so that the new superintendent can contribute to the feasibility and strategic planning process.   

Additional updates will be forthcoming as the Board moves through this process.  Stakeholders are welcome to visit the ECS website to review all feasibility and superintendent search information. 

 
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Elkhart Community Schools seeking participants for focus groups

January 23, 2023 – Elkhart, IN – Elkhart Community Schools is seeking community feedback through a series of 50-minute focus groups.

As announced in September, Elkhart Community Schools has partnered with School IQ/SitelogIQ to complete a long-term feasibility/facility study. To date, the agency has completed a full evaluation and analysis of ECS properties and building assets, collected community input through surveys, and begun a long-range demographic study of the ECS district. With this work under way, the district is now seeking additional feedback and dialogue with community members through a series of focus groups.

“Community, collaboration, cooperation, and communication are essential to making decisions that keep the district moving in the right direction,” said ECS Board of School Trustees President Dacey Davis. “We partnered with School IQ and SitelogIQ because they prioritized community engagement as part of the feasibility study process. The School Board is committed to providing opportunities for the community to have an active role, like participating in the upcoming focus groups,” Davis continued. “Educating our children and rightsizing the district is a partnership. It is a process that Elkhart Community Schools cannot embark on alone. We need the help and support of the community in this process. The upcoming focus groups are a great way for the community to share feedback with the district.”

Planned for February 7 and February 8, the focus group sessions will center around themes identified through the community surveys to gauge community sentiments about various areas of the district. Specific dates, times, and themes are as follows:

Tuesday, February 7, 2023
6:00pm: Loss of Students, Families, and Staff
6:00pm: Public Relations and Community Perceptions
7:00pm: Trust and Faith in District Leadership
7:00pm: School Safety, Security, and Discipline

Wednesday, February 8, 2023
6:00pm: Collaboration between Board and District Leadership
6:00pm: Developing/Improving Community Connections
7:00pm: School Facilities and Funding
7:00pm: Improving the Educational Experience for Latino Families

All focus group sessions will be held at Elkhart High School (2608 California Road, Elkhart, IN 46514). All focus groups will have Spanish interpreters available and the eighth group session will be in Spanish only. The focus groups are open to anyone, including community members, ECS families, and ECS staff.

Individuals interested in participating are encouraged to register in advance: https://tinyurl.com/ECS-Focus-Groups

Upon completion of the focus groups, a Key Committee composed of teachers, support staff, administrators, business leaders, civic leaders, non-profit leaders, parents, and senior citizens, will evaluate the feedback as one part of the feasibility/facility study. In addition to the focus group feedback, the committee will also have data from surveys, the building/facilities study, and community demographics, as they collaborate to develop recommendations for the school board.

Additional information about the ECS Feasibility/Facility Study can be found here: https://elkhart.k12.in.us/feasibility
 

Elkhart Community Schools seeking community feedback as part of long-term feasibility/facility study

December 9, 2022 – Elkhart, IN – Elkhart Community Schools is seeking vital community feedback through a series of short surveys as the district plans for the future. 

As announced in September, Elkhart Community Schools has partnered with School IQ/Sitelogiq to complete a long-term feasibility/facility study. To date, the agency has completed a full evaluation and analysis of ECS properties and building assets, and work has begun on a long-range demographic study of the ECS district. With this work under way, the district is now seeking community input related to a variety of topics. 

Community survey topics include:

• Improved Collaboration and Communication between Board and District Leadership
• Developing and Improving Community Connections
• Loss of Students, Families, and Staff to Other Districts
• Public Relations and Community Perceptions
• School Safety, Security, and School Discipline
• Trust and Faith in District Leadership

The district has a dedicated page containing a link to each survey: https://tinyurl.com/ECS-surveys. Each survey will take 5-7 minutes to complete. Respondents are invited to complete all of the surveys, or complete the surveys of most interest to them. Surveys are available in English and Spanish. Surveys will remain open through 5:00pm on December 23. 

Following the conclusion of surveys, the district will host stakeholder focus groups, whose participants will be asked follow-up questions based on survey trends to help the district understand perceptions, challenges, and needs. The focus group meetings are tentatively scheduled to begin in late January 2023. Individuals interested in serving on a focus group can email communication@elkhart.k12.in.us to indicate their interest and should include their name, home address, and primary role with the district (parent/guardian, teaching staff, non-teaching staff, community member).  

Other recent activity related to the study includes the formation of a Key Committee composed of teachers, support staff, administrators, business leaders, civic leaders, non-profit leaders, parents, and senior citizens. This committee will centralize data from surveys and focus groups, as well as evaluate data about ECS school facilities and community demographics. Following their evaluation, the committee will develop recommendations for the school board.

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Elkhart Community Schools embarks on long-range feasibility/facility study, invites the community to learn more at upcoming presentation
 
September 8, 2022 – Elkhart, IN – Elkhart Community Schools invites the public to a community meeting on Wednesday, September 14 at 6:30pm, at Elkhart High School (2608 California Road) to share information about the district’s long-range feasibility/facility study being conducted in collaboration with School IQ and Sitelogiq, INC. 

After an extensive search and interview process, Elkhart Community Schools selected School IQ/Sitelogiq to complete the study process. School IQ/Sitelogiq will provide the school district and the communities served by ECS with long-range educational planning services. These include a feasibility study, facility analysis, and demographic projections, all of which may potentially inform a new Strategic Plan for the district. Specifically, Elkhart Community Schools wants to engage in a comprehensive review of both its facilities and its approach to educational programming. The school district’s goal is to provide its students with a well-rounded curriculum and to deliver that curriculum in school buildings that are educationally appropriate, functional, and energy efficient.  Doing so will allow the district to utilize its financial resources to better support the teaching and learning process as opposed to spending dollars on ever-increasing maintenance issues.

Sitelogiq has initiated the facility review process by sending a team of facility experts into the district to review, catalog, and identify all current building assets and assess the remaining life expectancy of the assets. When this process is completed, School IQ/Sitelogiq will recommend options for the district to consider as building needs become evident. In addition, School IQ/Sitelogiq is beginning to gather background information related to the feasibility portion of the process.

A community meeting to outline the feasibility/facility study process and answer questions is scheduled for Wednesday, September 14 at 6:30pm, at Elkhart High School (2608 California Road). Interpreters will be available. 

About School ID/Sitelogiq
School IQ is the educational sub-set of Sitelogiq, a $125 Billion dollar company with 800 employees. Sitelogiq is a national long-range planning and implementation firm with 32 regional offices across the country. During the last four years, Sitelogiq has partnered with over 100 upper Midwest school districts and completed more than $1.5 Billion in long-range planning and implementation projects. Sitelogiq began operations in Indiana in 2019.
 
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