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Teachers and parents urge Elkhart Community Schools to preserve Woodland and Hawthorne programs
Summary
Teachers, parents and program staff told the school board they feel blindsided by consolidation plans that would close Woodland Elementary and fragment services at Hawthorne Early Learning Center, urging the district to prioritize specialized spaces, translators and staff seniority.
Tara Williams, a Woodland teacher of 25 years, told the board she and colleagues felt as if they were at “a funeral” after the district announced consolidation plans and asked trustees to consider the human cost of moving staff and students. “Please be mindful of the heart behind those numbers,” Williams said, calling the process insufficiently transparent and urging the board to honor staff seniority, including a librarian with 14 years in the district.
Lynn Bourner, who has taught in the district 12 years, said Woodland is a “community, a family” and that more than half the school’s staff have more than 10 years in the district. She described five specials staff whose combined district service totals 94 years and said the consolidation plan has left displaced staff “sad, stressed, anxious” and feeling treated as afterthoughts.
Parents and former staff added specific concerns about Hawthorne Early Learning Center. Kaylee Trevor, a former district teacher and parent, urged the board to keep Hawthorne’s specialized spaces and staff intact, including the sensory room, motor room and an interpreter she named as essential to Spanish-speaking families’ access to evaluations and individualized education plan meetings. “These aren't extras. They are neural jump starts for cognitive and social emotional growth,” Trevor said.
James Traver, a parent whose twins used Hawthorne services, said the center’s multidisciplinary evaluations were critical for his children’s diagnosis and progress and warned that fragmenting Hawthorne’s program across multiple buildings would “break a system that works.” He asked the board to allow families one final evening to walk the halls if closure proceeds.
An unnamed district staff member speaking for displaced teachers cited Feb. 20, 2026 notifications that assignments would end at the school year’s close, described confusion over Transition to Teaching timelines and emergency permits, and warned of open science positions posted since 2024. The speaker said some teachers face repayment duties for district-funded classes (up to 75% claimed by the speaker) and questioned how the district will staff classes next fall.
The speakers asked trustees to weigh the educational and community losses alongside building-cost calculations, to preserve Hawthorne’s integrated services where possible, and to provide clearer timelines and placement protections for experienced staff. The board did not make any immediate decisions during the public-comment period; the comments were taken as input ahead of future agenda items.
