The South Bend Community School board voted unanimously Monday night to keep fighting for their former Clay High building.
The vote came after some Career Academy students and owner Larry Garatoni told the board the charter school will do great things with the building, which was closed as a high school in 2024 because of declining enrollment.
Things got heated at times, including this exchange between Garatoni and school board president Stuart Greene, when Garatoni tried to speak longer than the three minutes allowed each speaker.
“I don’t know what it’s costing you to maintain all these empty buildings but it’s kind of crazy to keep them that way," Garatoni said.
"Thank you, your time is up," Greene said.
Garatoni: "Uh, that’s not very good, cutting people off, you know it?"
Greene: "I think most people come up here knowing they have three minutes.
Garatoni: "I would make one other comment …you’ve got $31 million … "
Greene: "Please sit down.”
Indiana’s dollar school law requires public school systems to give underutilized buildings to interested charter schools for a dollar. But board member Marcus Ellison said the corporation continues to use the building, which has been appraised for $50 million, for vocational classes, sports and more.
“We need to continue to fight to hold on to this building for as long as we can, for as many appeals as we need to do, until the very, very end,” Ellison said.
