SJSD plan leads to major ramifications for Lafayette and much of district

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- Entering last night's consequential Board of Education meeting, uncertainty remained on the proposed path the district would elect to move forward with.

In a span of roughly three weeks, proposals shifted from Plan E, a three high school model with Central, Benton and Lafayette, to Plan 2B (Lafyette/Central) before settling on Plan 4BR (Benton/Central).

Even for those who advocated for a particular model, many at Monday's meeting sought clarity after weeks of discussions, as well as information on where the district stood financially.

"One week it's Plan E and everyone was staying. Another week, Benton is closed and then the next week Lafayette is closed," said Connor Zeit, a community member who attended the meeting. "The public is starting to lose trust in the board and in the district. People feel like they aren't being listened to by the board."

A key part of Monday's meeting focused on a recent financial review of the district. Linda Quinley, senior director of school finance for the Missouri School Board Association, was brought in to discuss SJSD's difficult financial position.

One of her key takeaways is while the district is not in a financial crisis, the budget is not in a healthy place and improvements need to be made.

For example, a review of the district's June budget showed a significant error in recorded expenditures: Just over $7 million should have been spent in reserve funding, but the actual number recorded was $36.6 million.

Those findings and budget estimate inaccuracies played a key factor.

Throughout the evening, supporters of the Lafayette Fighting Irish, many of whom said "we bleed green," made impassioned speeches to the board to change course.

While the board's 5-2 vote to approve 4BR provided much-needed direction for the district, the decision left many distraught, frustrated and for some, in tears.

"It's sad to see all these people react like this and then be OK with that," said Breanna, a student from Lafayette. "There's going to be a lot more people at the same school as we go to a new, unknown environment and high school."

For some at last night's meeting like Zeit, many questioned why the process seemingly occurred as quickly as it did: "Why are they doing this now?"

"These are big decisions that are going to impact our town for years to come. I think this decision has been rushed," Zeit said. "They should have stepped back and took a pause, I think they needed more time. The week before Thanksgiving break, and we keep pushing for a decision?"

Zeit further explained that while he hasn't been in this position, he feels for the students impacted.

"It's a tough situation, I can't put myself in their shoes because I haven't been through something like this," Zeit said. "I'm just being supportive and continuing to give guidance each and every day. Being a person they can come talk to is really the only thing we can really do in this situation."

Going forward the board will be discussing how to tackle decisions related to staffing, zoning and potential overcrowding, among many other discussions in store in the near future.