District will host IU class this fall

By Pam Mansell
Herald Writer

Beginning in September, Wilmington Area School District will provide a classroom for a speech and language class operated by the Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV.

Wilmington Superintendent Dr. C. Leon Ahlum estimated the class will mean about $25,000 a year in additional revenue to the district.

Wilmington school directors Monday night approved a 3-year contract for the IU classroom by a 7-2 vote. The classroom will be in the New Wilmington Elementary School.

Nancy Hutchison and Mary Buckwalter voted no and questioned whether there was room for another class in the already crowded school. Both expressed concern that the special needs class would face some potential moving around during renovations in all three elementary schools in the district.

Superintendent Dr. C. Leon Ahlum said a smaller than usual second grade enrollment will mean an extra classroom next year. Planned renovations and an addition to the school will mean permanent space for an IU IV class in succeeding years. Ahlum said he had told the IU the school would be renovated, and they wanted the classroom in spite of that. Ahlum said the IU needs three classrooms for special needs students.

Besides, Ahlum noted, “our projections indicate that a number of students in this class would be Wilmington Area students.” If the classroom were not provided, those students would have to travel to schools outside the district for their education.

The estimated income to the district in hosting the IU class is probably between $20,000 and $30,000, Ahlum said. Some of that comes from the costs saved in educating Wilmington students at home. Ahlum estimated the cost of sending four students outside the district — including “Fair Share” costs of $2,000 each, tuition costs of $750 each, and busing costs of $5,400 — at around $16,400. The Fair Share income and tuition income from four students coming into the district would be another $11,000.

School Director John Shaw noted that amounted to savings of more than half a mill in taxes a year.

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