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Parents, teachers and alumni urge board to keep Lake Minotaire open
Summary
Dozens of public commenters — including teachers, parents, alumni and students — told the Scottsbluff school board to pause the proposed closure, highlighting strong test scores, the school's heritage, small class sizes and disputed savings estimates; they urged alternatives such as administrative consolidation and slowing capital spending.
Nearly two hours of public comment at the Scottsbluff Public Schools special meeting featured a long series of appeals to keep Lake Minotaire Elementary open.
Teachers described staffing losses and stress from recurring closure threats. "Our staff stepped up to the challenge and continued to work together," said Tracy Barrett, a 27-year district teacher who described Lake Minotaire as a close-knit school where staff put students first. Parents and alumni emphasized the school's multigenerational role: "Lake Minitaire is the heart of our community," said former student and parent Katie Preston, who presented family photos and a scrapbook tracing attendance at the rural school back roughly 100 years.
Commenters repeatedly questioned the district’s net-savings calculations. Multiple speakers said losing the elementary site allowance (cited during the meeting as roughly $400,000) would reduce state aid and could force a higher local tax asking. Others pointed to large recent capital outlays and early bond retirements (commenters cited roughly $19.4 million in recent capital spending and $4.8 million in early bond retirement over the last four years) as discretionary areas to slow before deciding to close a high-performing school.
Students and alumni described how small class sizes and personalized instruction at Lake Minotaire shaped academic success and career choices. Several speakers warned that long bus rides and disrupted social networks would harm young children and that closures often produce measurable academic declines in subsequent years. Speakers urged the board to seek alternatives—administrative restructuring, asset pacing, or limited tax increases—before taking permanent action.
