Van Buren middle school students to be relocated

KEOSAUQUA ? Van Buren Community School Board of Directors, on a 4-2 vote during a meeting Wednesday evening, approved a recommendation to relocate its middle school students.

Beginning in the fall, instead of going to school at the Stockport attendance center, sixth graders will go to the elementary school in Douds, while seventh and eighth graders will go to the high school in Keosauqua.

Before the vote, board members had a ?lengthy, good discussion of the pros and cons? and were presented addition requested data, said Van Buren school district superintendent Lisa Beames. She added about 25 people, including two students who presented their perspective on the proposed move, attended the meeting.

?It was a tough decision for the board, for the board members,? said Beames. ?I hope they?re all comfortable with the way they voted. They?re a good board, and they had hard conversations.?

Beames said the decision was based on school finances and a desire ?to provide the best opportunities we can for the kids.?

She pointed out the district covers almost the entire county of Van Buren. By having the middle school in Stockport, district vehicles were traveling 5,000 less miles and using less gas, but the fuel price had gone up creating the dilemma: ?do we keep putting money in transportation or do we put it in instruction??

Beames also pointed out the necessity of teachers traveling the 40 minutes between the middle school in Stockport and the high school in Keosauqua to teach classes was causing lost instructional time and lost teacher time.

?We?re trying to refocus our resources for the best use,? she continued.

With the decision now made, district personnel and community members can now make plans of how the middle school students can be accommodated.

McIntosh appointed to school board

KEOSAUQUA ? Jean McIntosh was appointed to the Van Buren Community School District Board of Directors during a board meeting Wednesday night at the high school in Keosauqua.

McIntosh, a former school board member, is fulfilling the term of Nasseem Hesler. The term will end after elections this fall.

Hesler resigned from the board after moving out of the district.

For the complete articles, see the Thursday, March 17, 2011, printed edition of The Fairfield Ledger.