Could Morgan Township High School be shut down in the future, East Porter County School Board member Natalie Bowersock asked during Monday’s contentious board meeting.

“There’s been a lot of chatter in the community about the videos that went out,” she said, including speculation about considering whether to shut down that high school, leaving East Porter with Washington Township and Kouts high schools still operational.

Staff members at Kouts told Bowersock they were left with that impression when Assistant Superintendent Alissa Schnick visited Kouts.

Schnick denied that she said anything about closing Morgan Township.

Bowersock asked, “How did staff members discuss or perceive it that way?”

“Go back and ask them who said that,” Schnick said, but it didn’t come from her presentation.

“I don’t feel like there was misinformation being spread in the community,” Bowersock said, but a different plan.

The whole point of a series of videos created was to clarify what the administration and board are considering, Superintendent Aaron Case said.

“You have a strategic plan potentially online,” Bowersock said. “There really is no plan.”

The district’s strategic plan, posted on its website, has a section on maximizing efficient operations, including “conduct a facilities/utilization audit” and “explore different options for building structures/consolidation to one high school, two K-12 buildings/or maintain the three with a referendum option.”

“Explore, that was the word that was used,” Schnick said.

“Yes, you have to explore,” board Vice President Elizabeth McFalls said.

“We wanted to make sure the community got the information, and that’s why we did the four,” Case said.

Bowersock said people who said they met with Schnick at Kouts thought that if any high school closes, it would be Morgan.

“You’re almost insinuating as if we’re hiding something,” McFalls said.

Board member Robert Martin, who was instrumental in the creation of East Porter decades ago, said, “I didn’t hear it that way, Natalie. I heard that there were options being explored that I disagree with.”

As Washington Township trustee when the three townships’ schools were consolidated into a single district, Martin was one of the people who pushed for the consolidated district to maintain the three township high schools instead of building one central high school.

Martin took issue with Bowersock’s request earlier in the meeting to see copies of a few invoices before agreeing to pay them. She cast the sole vote against paying the claims, which Case said amounts to about $1 million every month.

Martin said he has requested information about specific claims in the past, but  “I’ve always done it before the meeting without the intent of embarrassing someone.”

Lately, though, Martin hasn’t requested information because he trusts the administration, he said. Martin lifted a large stack of papers, saying he prints out information given to the board ahead of time so he can read it more easily than on a computer screen.

“I think clarification is good on some of the things,” he said, but it’s better to work together and not use information as a lever to create strife, “and that’s sometimes how you come across.”

“I have no problem with you asking for things if there’s a way to get you the information ahead of time,” Martin said.

Bowersock also voted against renewing the property insurance coverage effective Jan. 1.

“It came back significantly higher than we anticipated,” Case said, but he’s working with the insurance company to try to get better numbers. The board approved a maximum amount for the premiums, hoping the actual figure will be less than a $100,000 increase.

Case recommended rebidding the whole package next year.

“There’s an awful lot of claims that have been made for our school district,” Bowersock said. “As a district, I feel we should be overall more conservative.”

The overall premium increase is 27%, Case said.

Bowersock noted ongoing litigation she has against the district. “I think there were a lot of unnecessary claims that were made directed at me,” she said. “It’s a shame that our claims increased so much, and that was directed at me.”

In September, the other six members of the board voted to censure Bowersock, citing eight alleged violations of the board’s code of ethics.

Bowersock, in her first term on the board, sued the board, the district and Case over a no-trespass warning against her at Washington Township Middle School, which her children attend. She also filed a tort claim involving her son being injured by another student at the school last spring.

Last winter, Bowersock filed a formal complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regarding what she believes to have been sexist treatment on the board. A district employee also filed a formal harassment complaint of harassment against her.

The censure resolution accused Bowersock of overstepping her role as a board member and attempting to act in an administrative, not policy-making, capacity; refusing to recognize her ethical duties as a board member by claiming such duties are not required by law; making various unsubstantiated allegations against school personnel and administration though refusing to cooperate with investigations of those allegations; visiting school property on numerous occasions without coordinating with school administrators and acting inconsistently with policy while in attendance; actions leading to internal complaints by school district employees and administrative staff; discussing board matters in various public settings and social media posts, undermining community confidence in the district and its processes; and making personal attacks on school administrators and personnel in public settings, including social media posts and emails.

Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune. 

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/09/east-porter-tries-to-tamp-down-school-closure-rumor/