The White Township Planning Commission held a special meeting to gather more public comment about the proposed Ben Franklin Elementary School.
Thirty people were in attendance along with the Planning Commission and the topic of discussion was the health and welfare of the community. George Bieger was asked by the commission to speak on how a larger school would affect elementary students, as the proposed Ben Franklin School would hold 900 students. Bieger, a professional educator for over 40 years, said that the larger school would have a negative effect on students, backing up a recent study of schools in the district that said Eisenhower and Horace Mann schools were the top schools of the district.
Barbara Barker added the letters of twenty people who live in the area who were against the schools. She quoted one of those letters saying that they came to Indiana to get the small-town community school experience, and related their story about knowing everyone in the community because they walked their kids to school. The letter stated that the feeling of community would go away if the Horace Mann and Eisenhower schools would close, which would be a part of the project.
Other concerns that were brought up included student safety, as busing concerns were once again addressed along with other concerns like evacuation of 900 students in an emergency situation.
The Planning Commission will meet again on February 14th, and the proposed school project will once again be discussed.
