Iola school board officials agreed Monday night to ask for “legal guidance” in regards to the Bowlus Fine Arts Center and whether they can not only remove classes from the Center but also themselves as its guardians, if they so desire.
Daniel Schowengerdt, an attorney with Johnson Schowengerdt, PA, and representing USD 257, summarized the board’s petition for the court at Monday night’s meeting, saying the will of benefactor Thomas H. Bowlus does not stipulate the Center be a “school house” for the fine arts and thus the district should not be obligated to hold such classes there.
Upon his death in 1960, Bowlus left the bulk of his million-dollar estate and his home at the corner of Sycamore and Madison to the Iola school district for the purpose of creating a fine arts center that would engender and perpetuate a love and understanding of the arts for local school children and the community at large. The Center celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015.
Mr. Bowlus’s will is set up as a testamentary trust, meaning the court has supervisory jurisdiction over the school board if their actions are called into question.
At the same time Schowengerdt said the trust gives trustees wide discretion in determining how the building is to be used and only a court of law can override their decisions.
Because they are also USD 257 board members, the trustees maintain they are in a position to determine whether the school has other facilities available to house the courses being held at the Bowlus.
THE 27-PAGE petition will be filed in Allen County District Court sometime in the next few weeks. It’s been 40 years since the local school board last asked for legal guidance in how to properly administer the Bowlus trust.
Trustees also want to know that if they indeed must hold classes at the fine arts center whether that curricula can be broadened to include graphic arts and animation, music composition using digital tools, broadcast video and stage production.
The school district’s dismal economic climate necessitates a change, trustees contend. During the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2015 the district compensated the Bowlus $143,000 to cover operational costs fully attributed to USD 257’s occupancy. This fee includes rent for the use of space to hold music, theater and art classes, office space for instructors, rental fees for the auditorium and to compensate the Bowlus for utilities, insurance and maintenance and depreciation associated with the district’s use of the Center.
“Current budgetary restraints make it impractical to continue to pay this amount for space that is not needed,” the petition reads.
For the first 20 years, the school district used the Bowlus free of charge. It wasn’t until 1984 that they agreed to pay for use of the Bowlus.
Recent allocations from the City of Iola and Allen County commission requested by USD 257 Board in support of the Bowlus has reduced the district’s obligation to about $41,000. Removal of the band classes from the Bowlus last year played a role in reducing the cost to the district from previous years.
Even so, if the district can find space in its other buildings for classes currently held in the Bowlus then even that sum is not justifiable, the petition reads.
Funds spent on the Bowlus mean deferred maintenance for the district’s other buildings, trustees contend.
“Based on Mr. Bowlus’s generous gift and dedication to the children of Iola, it is hard to imagine that he would have wanted the Bowlus to negatively impact the children of Iola,” the petition reads, maintaining that his will did not require the school district to pay for the use of the Bowlus.
