BUDGET CUTS FORCE TWO SCHOOL CLOSINGS IN COLBY
Wednesday, March 22nd, 2006 -- 8:29 AM
Faced with a projected $600,000 budget deficit for the 2006-07 school year, the Colby School Board Tuesday night voted 5-1 to close two schools. Under the board?s action, the Unity Early Learning Center and the Dorchester Elementary School will be closed. The 250 students who currently attend the schools will attend Colby Elementary next year.
The closings will save an estimated $408,000, according to District Administrator Terry Downen.
200 people attended public forums on the proposed closings ? the last of which was held Monday night. ?No one has spoken in favor of closing the schools,? Downen reports. ?As everybody shows up at these things, they?re very concerned, of course, about losing school buildings and how this will impact the education of the children.?
?On the other hand, there were not a lot of solutions to how does the board solve a $600,000 revenue shortfall,? Downen says.
Tuesday?s action came nearly a month to the day that district voters defeated a revenue cap exemption referendum.
A petition was submitted Tuesday with 182 signatures requesting the district hold another referendum, rather than close the schools. The board discussed the issue, but took no action on the resolution, Downen says.
The Board also approved a letter to several other districts to explore interest in a possible joint consolidation study. Nine or ten other districts border Colby, Downen says.
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