MILLBURY, Ohio — As the construction of the new Lake Elementary School comes to a close, school board members voted 6-1 Wednesday to remove sixth grade from the building.
The board meeting was called because of a comment board member Tim Krugh made in a local newspaper, where he accused two new members of the board of "bullying" others to make the decision. Everyone else on the board disagrees with the accusation, but ultimately it boils down to how certain decisions by the board were made.
Lake Elementary School will house preschool through fifth grade, which is different than what residents thought. When it was voted on in 2021, the understanding was it would house preschoolers to sixth graders.
Krugh, who voted no on Wednesday, said the board held a private meeting last week about the change, which he decided not to attend because he felt it was wrong to make the decision behind closed doors.
"They essentially agreed in a meeting last week, which was a private meeting, in violation of the Ohio Open Meetings Act to go ahead with the pre-K through 5," Krugh claimed. "My biggest concern is the process they used or abused to try to get this decision."
But board president Brad Blandin said no such decisions were made.
"There were no votes, there were no decisions," Blandin claimed. "It became clear that there was forming consensus on the board that there were concerns, real significant concerns, and that we needed to get more information and decide whether this made sense."
Blandin said they had to cut classroom space because of construction costs, forcing special needs services to be housed in the middle school. Special needs students would then have to walk from the elementary school to middle school every day.
He claimed the school district's attorney told him dropping a grade from the school was not a decision that needed to be voted on, but he decided to hold a vote this time because of public attention.
"I have not heard one, not even one complaint, or concern from changing it from pre-K through 6 to pre-K through 5," Blandin said.
Multiple people at the meeting spoke in support of the change.
"The time that they are there, and the time back, is going to be a huge, huge chunk of their day," Jeanette Davila said of special needs students having to walk between schools.
Krugh said he was able to get what he wanted.
"I am finally going to be able to explain my views on this decision and to record a public vote," he said.
Lake Elementary School is set to open in the fall of 2024.