School Board Considers Closing Running Fox, Decides Against It After Community Pushback
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Nearly 100 concerned citizens crowded into the library at the Clark County Middle School on Thursday evening, December 5, as members of the Clark County R-1 school board heard a proposal to build new classrooms at Black Hawk Elementary School, as part of a proposal to close Running Fox and consolidate all elementary students at Black Hawk.
In addition to the crowd in attendance, over 150 viewers watched the meeting, streamed live by NEMOnews Media Group, and the video of the meeting had garnered over 14,000 views by Friday morning.
“We wanted to have this discussion several months ago,” CCR-1 Superintendent Dr. Ritchie Kracht told the audience. We only found out Monday that we might have the money available, which is why this is short notice.”
Kracht explained that no vote would be taken that evening, but if the board were to decide to move forward, they would vote in January to place the issue before voters on the April 2025 ballot,
Veregy, a company described on their website as “an industry leader in energy efficiency solutions, solar, and smart building technology,” presented a brief vision of uniting the two campuses. Veregy has previously worked with many Missouri school districts, including Clark County R-1, managing all aspects of projects, including design, engineering, contractors and delivering with a fixed price.
The early plans would add eight classrooms at Black Hawk, and a multi-purpose room/storm shelter, at a cost of about $5.5 million dollars, creating four sections of each elementary grade level.
Following Veregy’s presentation, board members asked questions of their three representatives in attendance including timeline, design style, HVAC, and questions about the storm shelter.
Kracht again address the audience.
“Board members have talked to me individually for two or three years to look at the numbers. We just found out that we could have $5.5 million in bonding capacity available.”
Kracht explained that the tax levy would not increase, and that the current bond, which would be paid off in 2035, would be extended to approximately 2042.
The CCR-1 district operates on the lowest levy allowed by the state-$2.75 per $100 of assessed valuation. In addition, the district has a voter-approved debt service levy of 75 cents, bringing the total tax levy to $3.50
By comparison, here are the adjusted levies from several surrounding schools, according to information on the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website:
Scotland County-$3.69
Knox County-$3.70
Palmyra-$3.3550
Monroe City-$3.7951
Highland-$4.3319
Canton-$3.3297
North Shelby-$3.9010
South Shelby-$4.48
Milan-$4.0723
Kracht explained that the biggest reason for considering combining the schools is student and staff safely, citing a 20-minute response time for either law enforcement or ambulance to the school.
Secondly, the Kracht cited the need for a storm shelter.
“There’s really not a good place for students to go in either building. All the classrooms have windows,” he said.
Fourteen speakers took their turn at the podium to express their concerns.
First was Kent Spory, who spoke on his long connection to Running Fox and the schools which pre-dated it.
“Until the world went crazy, Running Fox was safe place, but no place is safe now. I feel like you’ve already laid the tracks, and you’re putting the engine on and forcing the whole thing down the tracks.”
Running Fox teacher Robin Davis questioned the transparency of the process, stating that one board member had told her at the fair that closing the school would be on the ballot in 2025.
“We need to be aware of these things,” she said. “Unless you have been to Running Fox, you don’t know how special it is.”
Former school board member Craig Hunziker told board member that they look “damn sneaky” by having this meeting with only a few days notice, and that if a tornado shelter is important, they should build one at Running Fox.
Recent CCR-1 graduate and former Running Fox Erin Bash told board member that she was inspired to seek a career in teaching because of her experience at Running Fox.
“I don’t know why we’re trying to fix something that’s not broken,” she said.
Erick Arnold had specific questions about the cost of extending the bond for an additional seven years, compared to the annual maintenance costs of the current building.
“Change is inevitable,” Arnold said, “But we need to plan.”
Other speakers echoed the need for more planning before expanding a building that is more than a half-century old.
“It’s premature,” said former board member Charles West. “We need to give it a few years, and then build a new building.”
Brett Arnold encouraged members of the Running Fox community to attend board meetings, and to run for the school board. Arnold also questioned the district’s safety concerns, questioning if transporting nearly 100 students by bus had more risk than leaving them in their building.
After hearing from the public, board members decided not to place the measure on the April ballot. Instead, they want to continue to look at all options.
“It will not be on a ballot in 2025,” Kracht told The Media on Friday. “Only the April election requires a 4/7thmajority to pass. All the other elections in 2025 would require a 2/3 majority.
In other business, the board
-approved the annual audit, which reported that the CCR-1 district had over $1.15 million dollars in excess funds last year.
“A large part of that was ESSR money that we spent and were paid back for from the previous year,” Kracht explained
Kracht reported that the new school information system is working better, and they are closer being able to report accurate data. Average daily attendance is down about 20 from last year, and that the average attendance rate is 93.94 percent, which is low for this time of year.
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