Sue Morgan understands why the Lawrence school bond issue might be a bitter pill for some to swallow.

Change is hard anytime, she says, and people are especially attached to their schools, something that should make the district proud.

Furthermore, with the country at war and the economy in a slump, stability seems a scarce commodity.

But she’s not standing for excuses.

“The fact is the education of our children doesn’t stop for those things,” Morgan said. “We need to stay focused on what’s going to make a difference for student achievement.”

Morgan is one of eight candidates campaigning for four open school board seats in the April 1 election.

She’s also one of three incumbent candidates, all of whom believe passage of a $59 million school bond that calls for closing East Heights and Centennial schools will make that difference.

“If we can offer comparable or better services and do it with fewer resources, I believe we have a responsibility to the taxpayers and to the kids to do that,” said Morgan, who earned 12.93 percent of primary election votes.

Closing the two schools is expected to save $1.4 million annually, and Morgan thinks it will also help accomplish the district’s educational goals.

While some think consolidation means big schools and that big schools mean big classes, Morgan said these assumptions did not have a sound basis.

Most of the research cited about “big schools” looks at populations of about 350 students, she said. Even after consolidation, New York and Cordley schools will still have fewer than 300 children each.

Furthermore, “there’s certainly a perception that small schools mean smaller classes, and that is definitely not the case,” she said. “You have a harder time controlling class sizes in smaller schools.”

She pointed out Riverside, a school that was overstaffed this year to avoid combination classrooms, a term for the situation that arises when two grades are taught together.

“Unfortunately, our backs are up against a wall now, and there’s no way we can continue to do that,” she said, but added, “we can deliver better education more consistently to those students for a lesser cost by combining these small schools into what are still small schools but a little bit bigger.”

And not only would the consolidated schools help the district maintain small class sizes, Morgan said it would also make recruiting and retaining teachers easier.

Teachers would not only work in newer, nicer facilities, but consolidating schools will allow them to collaborate and differentiate curriculums for students with different needs, she said.

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“Most teachers don’t want to teach in a one-section school,” Morgan said. “Ask them and find out for yourself.”

Morgan, 52, has a master’s degree in public administration and is business administrator at First United Methodist Church. She and her husband, Jeff, sent two children, Ryan and Erin, through Lawrence public schools.

Elected to her first term in 1999, she was board president last year when $3.1 million in unpopular budget cuts and fee increases were adopted.

She knows that a large sum of money, which the bond issue certainly is, makes people nervous.

But these are not things that can be avoided forever, she said.

“Unless you want these buildings to fall apart, you have to do it sometime,” Morgan said. “This is the best bargain we’ll ever get.”