‘Save Clay, Inc’ suggesting new district for unincorporated county students

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind.-- Tuesday, a group called “Save Clay, Inc” took the floor at St. Joseph County Council to lay out a plan to look closer into South Bend Schools and their decision to close Clay High School.

After declining student enrollment, the South Bend Community School Corporation (SBCSC) hired a consulting firm to help “right-size” the district.  Ultimately, they decided to close Clay, much to the dismay of many in the area, not to mention current Clay students. 

A resolution was written up by Attorney Peter Agostino, who hopes to get the county council’s support, and put it on the agenda. 

Basically, the resolution states that 55,000 people in St. Joseph County, a large sector of the tax base that contributes to SBCSC, is left without a “community-based high school” with the closing of Clay. 

Now, Agostino is asking the council to look into the possibility of creating a new school district to service the Clay, Greene, Warren and German Townships, the unincorporated areas of St. Joseph County.

“Our concern is we’re getting taxed—we're having to pay for this and we’re not getting a building to support services for kids in those neighborhoods in that part of the county,” he said.   

But another part of this effort by Save Clay is to look into the financials of SBCSC.   

In 2020, a $220 million bond referendum was promoted with the idea to improve the district and prevent closures.  Proponents of Save Clay, with support from county council members like Amy Drake, say they still have questions about where all that money went. 

They say the school district is not being transparent with sharing financial documents. They fear, if nothing is done, more schools will continue to close. 

“Clay township being one of the highest tax brackets in the area, we’re losing our high school due to the lack of sufficient funds,” said Robert Smith, member of Save Clay. “We would like to grow our community and know where our tax dollars went.” 

This resolution, if taken up, is likely to go into a committee hearing later in August, then a public hearing in September. 

You can find out more at https://saveclay.com/