District consultants present new plan to convert select high schools to middle schools to save tens of millions

Consultants advising the Vigo County School Corporation detailed Tuesday evening a revised long-range facilities plan that would convert two existing high schools into larger middle schools and reconfigure the west-side grade structure, aiming to reduce capital and operating costs while expanding program offerings for students.

Dr. Hemsel, superintendent, said the proposal is intended to preserve educational opportunities and make the district's facility investments sustainable. "We're generating more than $10 million of annual savings in the education fund," Dr. Hemsel said, and added the district expects more than $3.5 million in annual savings in the operations fund under the modernization scenario.

The consultant team, led in the meeting by Jim Thompson and Chris Kingery, said converting Terre Haute North and Terre Haute South to middle schools would allow the district to reuse large assets such as gyms, cafeterias and auditoriums while demolishing or repurposing older wing space to reduce repair costs. They described design moves such as adding safe, secure entrances, renovating classroom spaces and turning underused pool volumes into flexible learning hubs for robotics, performing arts or health education.

Consultants presented an alternate West Vigo master plan that would reconfigure elementary grades into lower and upper elementary buildings and create a junior/senior high for grades 7—2, a configuration the presenters said other Indiana districts use to increase program access while concentrating construction on one campus on the west side.

The team said the new option would save an additional $30'40 million over the previously presented plan, on top of earlier projected savings, producing total long-term savings of roughly $60'70 million versus keeping all existing buildings. The consultants characterized the estimate as a planning-range figure for a 15'20-year implementation cycle.

Board members and staff discussed operations: Dr. Hemsel noted the district currently faces a roughly $14 million shortfall in preventive-maintenance needs and said the modernization plan's projected savings would permit reinvestment in programs and maintenance without repeatedly returning to the community for larger referenda. "Doing nothing doesn't allow us to get that done," he said.

Board members pressed for clarity on the timeline. Dr. Hemsel said no decisions were required that night; the next steps depend on the county and the oversight board completing their review. "There is no decision tonight," he said. "You're going to have time to process, ask additional questions, and so forth." The board did not vote on the plan during the meeting.

Public comment during the meeting raised staffing concerns tied to consolidation. Tammy Rankkins, a sixth-grade ELA teacher at West Vigo Middle School, asked, "What's going to happen to those administrative positions?" Dr. Hemsel responded that the district plans to manage staffing through attrition and would not lay off staff as a direct result of consolidation, a commitment he repeated for the record.

What happens next: the consultant team and district staff will refine options and continue public outreach and oversight-board review before the board considers any formal decisions or referendum language.