Harrison Daily Times

Superintendent Shari Marshall has a message for the patrons of her school district: Your children's school is not going anywhere.

"There are no plans for consolidation or annexation in the foreseeable future," she said Saturday. "That's not in our plans."

A story in the Feb. 10 edition of the Daily Times reported that the master building plan of the Bergman School District noted that there was a possibility of that school annexing Lead Hill if its student population fell below that state-mandated threshold of 350 students. Lead Hill currently has a student body of 377.

"I believe that Bergman was being proactive in trying to answer questions as to what would affect their population," Marshall said. "That would definitely affect it.

"As much as we appreciate their interest, that is not in our plans."

Both Marshall and Bergman Superintendent Joe Couch stressed that the annexation note was just one entry into a much larger plan.

"We don't really know what is going to happen," Couch said. "A lot of that is out of our hands. Legislators keep talking about countywide school districts; Bergman may be annexed into the Boone County School District. We never really know."

Lead Hill School presently counts 377 students.

Over the past 10 years, the school has averaged 390 students. The student population spiked at 421 in 2003-2004 and 427 in 2004-2005.

Projections for the coming years have the school hovering around 390.

Even if the school falls below the 350 mark, the school will not disappear overnight. Enrollment numbers must be below 350 students for two consecutive years, and the district would be notified the third year to make plans to merge with a neighboring district.

The school was placed on fiscal distress in 2005, a move that scared some parents, Marshall said.

"It scared me when I heard about it," she said. "I did not understand what it was."

Since then, the school has trimmed its budget, projects to finish about $100,000 in the black at the end of the school year, and is hoping to be removed from fiscal distress soon, Marshall said.

"Right now, there is no reason for us to not be considered a viable school district," she said.