Superintendent says details about future timeline for Eugene Field Elementary School to be revealed Wednesday

HANNIBAL, Mo. — Hannibal Superintendent Susan Johnson didn’t provide many details Tuesday night about the future of Eugene Field Elementary School to the Hannibal City Council, but she said a timeline of what is likely to come will be revealed at Wednesday night’s Hannibal School Board meeting.

The Hannibal School Board voted 4-3 at its November meeting to close the school building, which will celebrate its 100^th year next year. 

“The reason for that decision, and it was very, very difficult for them, is over the past many years, we’ve noticed a decline in our overall student enrollment, and in doing so, we’ve noticed a vast difference between our different elementary schools and their populations,” Johnson told the City Council.

She said enrollment at Eugene Field had dropped to about 160 students.

“It’s a great school, so don’t misunderstand that,” Johnson said. “But as you know, there’s just not a lot of homes in that area, and with the city moving out the opposite direction and probably other reasons too, that’s the reason why (the school was closed).”

Johnson said the Hannibal School District’s pre-K through 12^th grade enrollment is about 3,400 students — “a decline of around 300 students over the years,” she said.

She said 1,343 students are enrolled this year in the five elementary schools — Oakwood, A.D. Stowell, Mark Twain, Veterans and Eugene Field. By closing Eugene Field, the remaining four schools have a combined capacity of 1,650 students.

“Even if we were to have a growth in population, which would be a great situation, we feel confident that we would be OK with the available space,” she said.

Johnson said she will share with the School Board on Wednesday a timeline for sharing decisions that people want to know about district officials prepare for next year.

She said she is often asked about the future of the building, but she offered no answers to the City Council.

“As we had public forums around the community, I know several were concerned about not wanting the building to remain vacant and making sure it’s of good use for that portion of our community, which is very important,” she said.

Johnson, in her 34^th year with the district, called the decision to close Eugene Field “one of the more difficult things that we’ve gone through. I’ve never been through anything like this before.”

“We want to be very compassionate and very cautious as we navigate this path, being sensitive to emotions and wanting to do what’s in the best interest for everyone concerned, and making sure everyone feels a part of that decision,” she said. “I’m sorry I don’t have a lot more details, but that’s kind of where we’re at.”

The City Council approved a settlement, presented by City Attorney James Lemon, between the city and Compassion Church Hannibal. The city has claimed the church failed to comply with a stormwater management plan when it built a new building and parking lot at 500 Munger Lane in 2023. 

The city has agreed not to pursue further legal action. In exchange, the church will concrete the handicapped area of 20 feet by 115 feet to accommodate people using walkers and wheelchairs by the end of January. Four other phases of the parking lot construction also were detailed, with completion of the parking lot scheduled for Oct. 31, 2028.

The city will be allowed at any time to inspect the work at the church to ensure compliance.

Councilmen allowed the Hannibal Convention and Visitors Bureau to submit a grant application to the Missouri Department of Tourism through its Marketing Platform Development. The bureau is allowed to request up to $30,000 in matching funds from the Department of Tourism for wayfinding materials and installation, with the bureau matching the grant for a total of $60,000.

When asked what wayfinding materials were, Director of Conventions and Tourism Trisha O’Cheltree said, “Wayfinding materials are basically like big signage. The particular one that I’m looking at looks kind of like a column, and they’re put in different places around town to promote events, attractions, anything that’s going on.”

In other action, councilmen:

• Heard details of an audit of city finances by Williams Keepers, a certified public accounting firm out of Columbia. As of June 30, auditor Amanda Schult said the city’s general revenue fund had $11.4 million in unassigned funds — a little more than $3 million in cash and cash equivalents and a little more than $8 million in investments. The firm’s only recommendation to the city was for city officials to begin preparing year-end adjustments so Williams Keepers doesn’t have to do it as part of its audit process.
• Approved a lease with Adams County (Ill.) 911 to install antennas on the Hannibal Board of Public Works southside water tank site, 1312 Westfall, to provide improved coverage for the western portion of the 911 service area.
• Approved adding a ballot initiative to the April municipal election that would let the city use national bidding procedures and Missouri’s cooperative bidding procedures for equipment purchases.
• Approved Mayor Barry Louderman’s re-appointment of Jon Obermann, Jason Krigbaum and Kathy Davis to the Hannibal Municipal Assistance Corporation and Pat Benson’s re-appointment to the police and fire pension board.
• Approved the Hannibal Housing Authority’s removal of Kyra Belcher from its board.
• Approved the appointment of Kristy Trevathan to the Hannibal Park Board.