A challenge to the Center Grove community

Alan Hagedorn teaches AP Human Geography, among other topics, at Center Grove High School. A few months ago I talked with him about his deep interest in the past and future of the Center Grove community, an interest he attempts to instill in his students. While my earlier discussion concerned the pending decision on the reorganization of Greenwood and the unincorporated portions of White River Township, he is currently focused on the budget crisis that is affecting CGHS and many other schools throughout Indiana. Remember, if there is one thing the already unites parts of Greenwood and White River Township it is the high school. Here is his reflection on the situation.

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This is my OPEN letter to the people of Center Grove schools.  Your integrity is on the line.

When I started teaching in Center Grove in 1995, I was not ready for how much positive talk there would be about the schools, by those who lived here and throughout the rest of the state.  Over my fifteen years, I have met individuals from all over the country who know about the quality of our programs.

When my son was born in 1999, people asked when I would move into the district so he could go to school here. Having owned two homes, one in Perry and the other in Center Grove, I have listened to, participated in, and started many conversations about the true value of being in Center Grove and having my home and kids in this district. I went to Southport High School and enjoyed the experience.  My years at Ball State University ramped up my own educational expectations and accomplishments.  After all of this, I was not ready for the caliber of education the Center Grove community had created.

In my interview of principal and patriarch Mel Vandermeer, in the last year of his life, he kept pushing the point that the community, and especially the trustees from the Paddack family, consciously opened a huge space for top quality education, and they paid the money to create it.

Now, as the state cuts one of the least-funded school systems in the state, on a per-student basis (a state “Best Buy”), it adds to a continuous trend of state defunding of public schools and puts “Center Grove schools I hear are some of the best” mantra to the test.

Are they?

Do we care?

I live here.  I work here.  My two kids go here. I have seen many of the programs in which I have worked cut, one reduction after another. Now, my son’s program is on the chopping block.  The high ability classes have been a top priority for the corporation.  It has taken a slow ten plus years for them to evolve to where they are.  They probably have five years of growth left before they really meet the entire corporation’s need in this area.  The current financial situation could axe all ten years of CG’s effort.  Dozens of other programs will go down the same drain . . . and along with them, the community’s reputation, substance and integrity.  Additionally, the programs that remain may be likened to cars struggling down the road on only three wheels.

If we do not step up and support education at the state level and find supplemental funding at the local level, then our chant that “Center Grove is great because of the schools” was either a former sham or a future shame.

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Learn more and share your views at the meeting of the Center Grove School Board meeting Monday February 7 at 7 PM. The meeting will be held at the Center Grove High School Hall of Excellence. Those who wish to speak will be asked to sign-up before the meeting starts, as they enter the hall.

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