Midway Elementary School in the Northern section of Edwardsville School district is at risk of being closed.  Recent Engage District 7 sessions have resulted in a deeper look at each ECUSD7 school.  We have been given two options regarding our local small school - Option A: Midway Elementary Repair & Hamel Addition or Option B: Midway/Hamel Consolidation.  The options presented by ECUSD7 list these anticipated costs: Option A: Midway repair-$5+ million; Hamel Addition-$15.2 million -- Option B: Midway/Hamel consolidation-$19.5 million.  These numbers are from Cordogan Clark, the architect firm hired by the district.  

The local residents are requesting that the consolidation be taken off the table as an option.  We want to repair Midway Elementary and Hamel Elementary and keep them open for local kids. 

Both Midway and Hamel provide education for students in kindergarten through 2nd grade (age range 5-8 years old).  The homes of these families are spread across approximately 88 square miles of primarily rural area.  Keeping schools close to where kids live is vital to ensuring kids can get to school quickly and safely.  The information presented at Engage D7 Midway meeting claimed bus rides average about 20 minutes.  Many members of the community feel this is miscalculated.  Busing all of these northern families to Hamel will result in longer bus routes.  The solution would be to add bus routes -- approximately $75,000-$100,000 to fund per year.  As the parents and community members in this region, it is our responsibility to place value on kids' time as kids.  Kids ages 5-8 are recommended to sleep for 10-12 hours a day and they spend 6.5 hours in school session.  Add in morning routines, bedtime routines, and meals - it is imperative to keep elementary schools close to where kids live to allow transportation to be as efficient as possible so these kids can spend time with family. 

These EngageD7 meetings are coming to a close and they intend to propose a plan to the school board as early as December 12, 2022.  If Option B is selected and they plan to propose consolidation then these northern families would be put in a position to vote no on any proposed bond application in the next election which could impact the bond success as a whole which in turn would impact funding for Lincoln Middle school rebuild. 

We recognize the need to repair sections at Midway, but we are not willing to give up the Midway location that is nearest to our youngest learners in the area.  The building is not beyond repair, we just need to look at it from a different angle.  The land that Midway sits on was donated to ECUSD7 for a school in the area and should remain. 

Dr. Shelton, board members, and EngageD7 facilitating team, please consider looking at other options to repair the Midway site and keep our small school functioning.