The Centre school district board voted Monday night to close its elementary school in Marion County and move those students to its junior-senior high school building as of this fall.
Superintendent Jerri Kemble said there were several factors that went into the decision to close the school. Chief among them was money.
The school has had a declining enrollment, and the district is estimated to save $75,000 to $100,000 by closing the school, she said.
Because of state budget cuts, the school district has lost about $190,000 of its $2.5 million budget.
“We hope to operate with more efficiency and do it in one building to save taxpayer money,” Kemble said.
The closing would mean the district could save a teaching position and preserve programs.
The district also hopes to cut transportation costs as students and teachers would not have to be shuttled from Lost Springs to the campus on U.S. Highway 77. The district is largely rural — about 400 square miles — and almost all of the students are bused.
There are about 90 students at the elementary school and 240 students in the entire district. They will attend together this fall at the senior and junior high school located at on U.S. Highway 7 between Lost Springs and Lincolnville.
Kemble said the school is large enough to house the additional elementary school students, and minimal expense or effort will be required to make the move.
The school will be set up with a sections for kindergarten through fourth graders, fifth and sixth graders and seventh through high school students.
Kemble said she hopes the move will allow for mentoring opportunities between the older and younger students.
“We are hoping this will be a positive change,” she said. “We have a transition team of teachers to look at all levels of change and the changes in our processes. We have some mentoring ideas. We are also looking at character for K-12 and putting our heads together on this new structure.”
Not everyone was happy with the board decision.
Several parents expressed concern at the board meeting Monday night there had not been enough communication between the administration and the public about plans for the elementary school.
One parent also expressed concerns about elementary students being in close proximity to high school students, Kemble said.
Kemble said the district plans to make the move for one year and see what changes might need to be made after that.
The elementary school in Lost Springs will be put in “moth balls,” Kemble said.
A nearby community is in the running for a recycling plant, and district officials want to see what enrollment will do before they make a final decision on the fate of the old elementary building.
