Herald and Review from Decatur, Illinois • Page 1

COPYRIGHT 1982 DECATUR HERALD REVIEW 25 CENTS CENTRAL ILLINOIS, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1982 Photo by Ron Ernst "Lakeview High School lives on forever" these students pledge while perching on a retaining wall near their school. Approximately 40 students were protesting the school's closing. IT four rade schools to be closed review Students protest Other reaction. Page A3 By ALDEN SOLOVY Herald Review Staff Writer Lakeview High School and four elementary schools will be closed beginning with the' 1982-83 school year. A 6-to-l vote by the Decatur Board of Education during a meeting Tuesday night decided the issue as part of the board's drive to cut expenses and eliminate unused -space.

v'" In a complex series of motions and votes the board developed and approved a motion to: Close Lakeview. Close Lincoln, Grant and elementary schools. Expand.the magnet school program to grades kindergarten to 8 from K-6, leaving the. location to a recommendation of Superintendent Robert Oakes. 'Oakes said his recommendation would be 'to expand the program at its current location.

Centennial Lab School: The motion came after five months of deliberations and hearings on a proposal for school closings made by Oakes. The board, irr its action, rejected some elements of the superintendent's I'- Oakes' plan called for converting Mound -IVfiddle'School to an elementary school, placing an expanded magnet program at Harris said the college would investigate a possible lease or purchase of Lakeview. "That's my and I think the board has stated that as a whole," Johnson said. The board's action came after about 75 minutes of testimony from the audience. The speeches reiterated much of the written and spoken testimony previously presented to the board.

After the voting ended, Oakes said staff members will make budgeting preparations, boundary maps will be revised and an orientation for students who are transferred as a result of the changes will be developed. Immediately after the meeting, Oakes held a meeting of the central administration to begin the work. Using figures from an administrative report, calculations show the savings from closing the five buildings will be about $1.2 million. Oakes said that the board will have to cut about an additional $1.1 million from the budget. That process will begin at a board study session at 7 p.m.

March 3 in the Keil Building, 101 W. Cerro Gordo St. Gollings said that the next decision facing the board will be whether to make additional budget cuts by eliminating programs or by increasing class size. Increasing class size would reduce the size of the teaching staff. vin Lauterjung and James Gollings.

"Tonight, we must do all possible to put our financial house in order," Gollings said, pointing to the potential revenue of selling Stephen Decatur to Richland Community College. Richland has no permanent campus, and college officials have said they are more in-. terested in Stephen Decatur than Lakeview. But Emmons said the best long-range move for the district would be to keep Stephen Decatur open! It is the newest high school, which opened in 197G. The board then voted on an amendment to not convert Mound to an elementary school and to not close Centennial.

Voting in favor of, the amendment were Emmons, Mrs. Post, Sevier, Mrs. Norman and Mrs. Wilmeth. Voting against were Lauterjung and Gollings.

Sevier said that he believes a middle school should be closed, but that Mound was not the one that should be. "I think, in this case, probably the administration failed the board as there were no alternatives," Sevier said. In October, the board added Johns Hill -Middle School to the list of possible closings, but subsequently removed the school from the list. Sevier said the board was wrong in removing Johns Hill. "That was the ignorance of the board.

That's where the fault lies with the board," Sevier said, adding that the board probably will have to consider closing a middle school next year. An amendment also was offered to expand the magnet program to grades kindergarten to 8 from K-6 and move the program to Mound. That motion garnered six "no" votes with Lauterjung the only supporter. Emmons then offered an amendment to expand the magnet program to K-8 with the location to be determined by administrative recommendation. That proposal was approved 4 to 3, with Emmons, Mrs.

Post, Gollings and Mrs. Wilmeth favoring the plan. Lauterjung, Sevier and Mrs. Norman voted "no" on the amendment. Those amendments left.the final motion calling for the closure of Lakeview and the four elementary schools.

The overall motion was approved 6 to 1, with Mrs. Wilmeth the only "no" vote. She said her vote was based on a firm belief that a lease or purchase deal which could pump additional dollars into the Decatur School District budget could be worked out with Richland. Jerry Johnson, a member of the Richland board of trustees present Tuesday night, School and closing Centennial. Provisions designed to continue using Mound and Harris as they are being used this year and to keep Centennial open were part, of the board's action.

The board's overall motion was developed through a complicated series of amendments and amended amendments which required at least two explanations of parliamentary procedure by the district's attorney: One major decision was picking a high school to close. Lakeview and Stephen Decatur high schools were the two facilities tarr geted by Oakes. A motion and then an amendment to that motion were made which, in combination, had the effect of placing the "no" voters in favor of closing Lakeview and the voters for closing Stephen Decatur. Voting to close Lakeview were board members Esther Post, Robert Emmons and Jeanelle Norman, and board President Richard Sevier. Voting to close Stephen Decatur were board members Denene Wilmeth, Mar Reagan pledges Caribbean security SALT LAKE CITY (AP) A fiery object that lit up the Western sky and broke apart over Idaho in a spectacular display was -a falling booster rocket from a Soviet satellite, the United States military says.

There were no reports that the spent rocket, which some witnesses said made a humming sound as it passed through the sky Tuesday night, had hit the ground, said a spokesman for the North American Air Defense Command Post at Colorado Springs, Colo; He said any remnants wouldn't be radioactive. The rocket was sighted from as far north as the Canadian border south to Las Vegas and from the Dakotas to Seattle, officials said. Sharon Kunz, secretary for the Bear Lake County sheriff's office in Montpelier, Idaho, said deputies and Montpelier police planned to fan out over the, county to look for any pieces from the rocket. Callers jammed the switchboards of law enforcement agencies, newspapers and television stations in Utah and Idaho after the object appeared in the clear, winter sky shortly after 9 p.m. MST.

It was "so beautiful, yet frightening in a fantastic sort of way," said Beverly McCarthy, who said she was driving in Salt Lake City when she saw it- "It looked like a Fourth of July rocket." The rocket was identifiedas the one that propelled Cosmos 1338 into orbit Feb. 16 from the Soviet Union. WASHINGTON AP) President Reagan -warned today that the United States is prepared to do "whatever is prudent and necessary" to protect its security interests in the Caribbean Basin, -v -ir Reagan coupled his warning, in a speech to ttfie Organization of American States, with unveiling his long-awaited plan for development "of the Caribbean-Central American region. president outlined an integrated program of trade, aid and investment for the farea, which he said is under "economic because of deteriorating terms of trade. A White House fact sheet issued before the jspeech said the administration will ask Congress for a supplemental appropriation of $60 million in grant military assistance for nations of the area.

This would raise total military aid for fiscal 1982 to $182.1 million: The package also includes a $350 million re- Russian rocket puts on fireworks display fresh opening to the enemies of freedom, national independence and peaceful development," he said. If the United States does'not act promptly in defense of freedom, "new Cubas will arise from the ruins of today's conflicts," Reagan said in his prepared remarks. Reagan denounced the "Soviet-backed, Cuban-managed support for violent revolution in Central America" and said he will ask Congress for increased security assistance for friendly countries of the area. a morning briefing on the administration proposal, Thomas S. Enders, assistant secretary of state for inter-American said, without specifically mentioning their source, that the "inflows" of weapons to leftist guerrillas in El Salvador are now "by far the highest that have been Reagan also noted that the Rio Treaty of the Organization of.

American States provides for reciprocal defense responsibilities. Until now, the administration has shied away from utilizing OAS mechanisms for bringing peace to Central America. Reagan said his development plan will be centered on his proposal for free trade for Caribbean products exported to the United States. v'. He suggested these products be accorded duty-free status for 12 years as an inducement to investment in the region.

The only exception to the free-trade concept would be textile and apparel products, which are governed by 6ther international a-greements, Reagan said. The president also proposed a fiscal 1982 appropriation of $350 million to assist countries that have been hard hit economically. Officials have said the aid would.be concentrated pn six countries suffering short-term balance-of-payments problems: El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Belize, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. He also said he will ask Congress to pro vide significant tax incentives for investment in the Caribbean Basin. quesi IOr supplemental tuuiiuninj aaaiaiauvc, vtfhich would raise the 1982 total to $824.9, al-Jinost double the 1981 figure.

jvi-i'-The economic hardships "have provided a Colder Index Job for of I In an attempt to lessen U.S. dependence on imported oil, microbiologists at the University of Illinois have been hired to engineer bacteria genetically for enhancing oil recovery. Marketplace Page B5 Legal, aid 1 woes If President Reagan gets his way and eliminates federal funding of legal services for trie needy, he will the courthouse door on the faces of very many poor 'people," says the head of one of Illinois' biggest legal aid programs. State A15 :v.V-;;':.:''-';-:"-' Another shutdown Firestone Tire Rubber Co. will shut down -tire production again for a week next month.

The plant is closed this week under a similar curtailment. A4 Volume 107 Number 38 Two sections, supplements A11; 15. 18 A17. B9 Under 20........,.. B4 World.

A2 To reach us The Herald Review phone numbers: Advertising 51 Circulation. 57 Classified. Newsroom 429-5151 Toll-free 1-800-252-1626 Clearing and colder tonight with diminishing winds. Lows near 1 5. Sunny cold Thursday with high temperatures in the mid 20s.

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