GFAFB commander: Base in 'very rapid drawdown now'

Lisa Gibson Grand Forks Herald
Published Tuesday, November 25, 2008
 

Grand Forks Air Force Base Commander Col. John E. Michel told Grand Forks and Grand Forks Air Force Base school board members Monday night that the possible consolidation of the two base schools may be only temporary because he hopes to draw more people to the base.
 

The boards have been looking at consolidating Carl Ben Eielson Elementary School and Nathan F. Twining Elementary/Middle School for a couple of years, based on declining enrollment. The two schools now have a combined enrollment of 417, which is about 100 less than this time last year.
 
"All I would ask is that we be agile," he said. "For a season, we may have to rethink and resize, but hopefully it won't last long."
 
Assistant Superintendent Jody Thompson and base officials are working on projected enrollment numbers, taking into account deployments and relocations, to better prepare the boards for a decision. But those numbers won't be ready until December, he said.
 

"I'm not comfortable releasing hard numbers quite yet," he said.
 
The boards heard a presentation from Michel at their joint meeting Monday regarding the changing mission of the base, its history and his goals as commander. Challenges he highlighted occurring in the next six months include the loss of 44 percent of the base's aircraft and 48 percent of the air crew. Two flying squadrons also will be inactivated before June 2009.
 
"We're in a very rapid drawdown now," Michel said. "Now is the time for open dialogue. There's a lot of angst, but we're actively involved in this and we have a very positive outlook."
 
The population living on the base will not fill the available housing, Michel said, so he will try for a policy that would allow other government workers, such as those with the Department of Homeland Security, to live on the base also.
 
"Our goal is 100 percent occupancy on the base, which means they bring their kids back," Michel said.
 
The Grand Forks and Grand Forks Air Force Base school districts are separate but share a superintendent and are joint powers partners. The two boards decided in 2007 that enrollment at base schools would be annually reviewed, and if only one school was needed, Twining would be the building used to hold pre-K through eighth grade. High school students from the base attend classes in Grand Forks.
 
The addendum states that if enrollment between the two schools is 300 to 500, either one or two schools could be used. If enrollment dips to between 150 and 300, the addendum says, only one school is needed, and if it drops below 150, other options should be considered.
 
If the schools are consolidated, the district would have to right size staff, which Superintendent Larry Nybladh hopes can be done mostly through attrition.
"I hope you get the sense that we are very proactive," Michel told the boards Monday. "That's what our people need. We're proactive, and we've got a little bit of energy."
 
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