Tuesday night board member Ginger Littleton asked the audience how many came for the closing and re-purposing topic. The majority of the people raised their hands, but those folks left without much more information than they came with.

Superintendent McCalister refused to answer the question about which schools he's looking at shutting down.

In a proposal to the board members, Superintendent McCalister listed re-purposing and closing schools to save approximately $3.5 million for Bay District next year. But he won't say what campuses he's looking at closing, and it has some board members frustrated.

"It is not OK with me for us to have a roomful of people whose very lives count on the decisions of re-purposing and closing schools. I want to know tonight how you reached the 3.5 and what you are planning," said Pat Sabiston, a school board member.

Instead of naming schools, McCalister refereed to the school board policy for long range facility planning. That policy states that an educational plant survey should be performed whenever a school enrollment meets the following conditions:

1. Decline of five percent per year for a period of five years.

2. Less than 60 percent of permanent capacity after being in operation for five years.

3. Exceeds the permanent capacity by more than 25 percent.

"Just look at the policy and follow the policy. Who meets that criteria and if they meet that criteria, then they will be the ones we consider. I mean, I don't know how much plainer you can get," said James McCalister.

But some people complained the policy itself does not give them answers.

"When you pull out a number like 3.5 million, I would expect a person like the superintendent to have some idea of which properties he's going to affect and I would think that under the criteria that he's spoken of, policy 6.512, that certain schools and he said we all know who they are, I don't know who they are," said Ernie Mosley, a Bay County Resident.

Despite the concerns, Superintendent McCalister is remaining tight-lipped until next week.

"I'm not going to name names. If you're asking me to name tonight you're not going to get that name until I know this is an area we need to consider," said McCalister.

Tuesday night all five board members told McCalister they do want him to go forward with looking into this option. McCalister says he will name schools at a special workshop they are going to hold next Monday, June 9th at 5:30 p.m.

One more workshop remains this week. It's at 5:30 Wednesday night at the Nelson Building on Balboa Avenue. You are welcome to attend.

Other issues discussed Tuesday night:

Reducing School Resource Officers:
McCalister is also suggesting the Board reduce the number of school resource officers in some of the area's high schools. Mosley, Bay, Rutherford and Arnold would all lose one, leaving them with one. The plan will cut the budget by $263,822.00. It also includes possible cuts to other areas of security. Springfield Police Chief Phillip Thorne spoke to the board about the possible cut. He says McCalister has told him his deal with Bay District providing a crossing guard at Everitt Middle is one of the jobs that might be cut. Board Member Jon McFatter says he doesn't think School Resource Officers are an area the board should be cutting.

Reduce District's Transportation Budget:
McCalister is proposing that middle and elementary start times are switched. Elementary students would then start school at 8:30 am. Middle school students would start at 7:30 am. Then high school and middle school students would share buses. Board Member Johnny Brock says he thinks this is a good area to look at, because with the rising cost of diesel prices it could help save a lot of money in fuel.

Eliminate Jr. Museum's Contract:
A long-standing contract between Bay District and the Jr. Museum is also on the chopping block. Currently the District pays $16,000.00 annually for the services. Jr. Museum Executive Director Rae Cotton says they service 30,000 students every year at the museum. Board Member Ginger Littleton says she does not want to end the contract with the Junior Museum. Board Member Donna Allen says she can't see paying that money for an extra item like the Jr. Museum with teachers on the chopping block. Board Member Pat Sabiston says she has other ideas of areas they could cut that would give them money to pay for the Jr. Museum.