Southwest Dubois School Board member clarifies status of Teen Outback: “Just an Idea”

A single resident spoke up at Thursday’s regular Southwest Dubois County School Corporation meeting about concerns for the Teen Outback.

Concerns for the youth center and programming began after a post on the organization’s Facebook account on Sunday. The group stated the corporation had plans to improve the property, including parking upgrades and tearing down the remaining portion of Huntingburg High School to construct a new gym entrance.

Resident Pam McLemore urged board members to reconsider any plans affecting the youth center building.

“That building has been around for many decades. I’m sure you have parents, grandparents and older that have gone through that building…it served the needs of the community so much,” McLemore said. “I think it is a historic building worth keeping.”

Board Vice President John Schroeder responded to these concerns by explaining that no formal action has been taken regarding the youth center. He emphasized that what has been presented is merely a conceptual idea that would require extensive evaluation.

“The real truth of this is there’s been no dialogue or no action taken at this point. There’s simply been an idea that was shared,” Schroeder said. “Part of the process that any board or any group goes through is we have a responsibility to the public to evaluate any idea, good or bad.”

Schroeder further clarified the board’s position on the Facebook post and subsequent rendering shared in the corporation’s response.

“There’s been no board members that have spoken in favor of or against this idea because quite frankly, we haven’t evaluated it,” he explained.

The situation, as confirmed on both sides, began when the Teen Outback approached the corporation to support their application with the Dubois County Community Foundation for a grant to help repair the roof of the existing building.

According to Teen Outback board member Ralph Begle, the 27-year-old roof is leaking over the game room and needs extensive repairs. At the Trivia Night event hosted by Teen Outback earlier this year, it was announced they had reached their goal to raise $50,000 to support those repairs. In a phone conversation on Monday, Begle said they could repair the roof leaks despite the lack of the grant.

The corporation confirmed that it had notified the Teen Outback board that it could not support their request for help with the grant. During those meetings, Schroeder said they had shared the idea about the potential updates to the property as an explanation for the lack of support.

The Teen Outback fired back on social media, saying that the renderings and plans revealed by the corporation had never been shared with them.

At Thursday’s meeting, Schroeder acknowledged many residents’ emotional connection to the Teen Outback.

“We understand and respect the fact people are very passionate about it. And that’s part of the blessing of living in a small community,” he said. “We’ve all got memories there. I went to school there, I went to many dances there. My kids went there, I volunteered there.”

The board emphasized that any potential project of this magnitude would require a lengthy process with multiple opportunities for public input.

“A project like this … is something that doesn’t happen in a week or a month or a year,” Schroeder said. “From the time that something like this is ever even just suggested–which is exactly where it sits right now–there is a tremendous process that needs to be followed and that process includes transparency to everyone.”

When McLemore expressed concern about seeing a rendering, suggesting it indicated imminent action, Schroeder clarified that initial renderings are starting points for discussion. In a conversation after the meeting, he stated that the alumni who brought the idea to the board supplied the rendering. The school board did not pay for the rendering.

“In this world, that first rendering is nothing more than an idea. That thing, if it happens, will probably change 10, 15 times,” he explained. “It’s not even our idea. This is somebody else’s idea what they think might work.”

He mentioned he wasn’t a fan of certain aspects of the rendering either.

“You know, if you ever got to that point, you have to say, what is the long-term future of the programming for kids? We’re on the school board because we care about our kids. We all have kids, right?” Shroeder said. “We want the program. Nobody has ever said we don’t want programming for the kids. In fact, we would like to have enhanced programming for all of our kids that will meet their future needs going forward for the next 30 years. Can Teen Outback really support that?”

He added that he didn’t know and wasn’t qualified to determine that without consulting with architects and engineers. He also emphasized that the board can’t make a decision of this magnitude without public input.

“There’s not a single one of us or all of us combined that can make this decision in the dark of night,” Schroeder said. “It can’t happen legally or morally or anything. There has to be a process that is followed.”

He said those decisions aren’t always going to make everyone happy, adding that many people have contacted the school board in support of the new idea for the Teen Outback.

“We have to represent them too,” Schroeder said.

In ending his comments to the attending public and Mrs. McLemore, Schroeder offered to stay after the meeting to answer additional questions from community members, emphasizing that he would stick to “facts” rather than opinions or speculation.