Final school bell sounds at Price Lab School

The end of the line came mid-morning Wednesday for students at the University of Northern Iowa's Price Lab School.

Seniors at the laboratory school on the UNI campus graduated last Sunday. But on Wednesday, the remaining students finished a half day of classes amid hugs and tears.

Many of the 360 students at the K-12 school wore orange t-shirts that said, in part, “…I am a Panther no one can take that away from me.”

Parents say it's been a long, drawn-out process since UNI President Ben Allen announced last February the school would close at the end of classes in 2012. The Iowa Board of Regents confirmed the closing decision the following month.

The building itself will remain open until the end of June. But one administrator said there are no summer classes scheduled, so the students who walked out the door Wednesday ended more than 50 years of laboratory-type teacher training and education at the school on the UNI campus.

Some students leaving for the final time appeared upbeat about going to a new school this fall. Many remarked that it wouldn't be so bad because many of their Price Lab School friends were coming along. Others, though, shed tears and had a difficult time talking about the loss they felt.

Dave Deibler, leader of a group called Keep Price Lab Open, said

a lawsuit filed by parents against the Regents is still active and may go before a judge as early as next month. The suit, with 37 plaintiffs, alleges the Board of Regents did not have the authority to close the laboratory school without a vote by state lawmakers.