PORT ANGELES — Fairview Elementary School will close and all seventh and eighth grade students will go to Stevens Middle School.
“I feel cruddy doing it,” said Port Angeles School Board member Charlie McClain after Wednesday’s unanimous vote of the five-member board.
“It’s a sad day for the district.
“One of my favorite places was Fairview but we must deal with the reality of the issues facing the district.
The School Board approved the school closure and realignment plan known as Option D at its special meeting Wednesday night attended by about 20 people.
Board members expressed regret at the decision but said the district had no other good options as it faces declining enrollment, which means declining state funding.
“It feels really bad but I’m in agreement that this is what we need to do,” McClain said.
The closure and realignment plan has three parts for dealing with diminishing enrollment:
* Closing Fairview Elementary School.
* Realigning elementary schools to include sixth graders.
* Consolidating seventh and eighth graders at Stevens Middle School, using Roosevelt Middle School as an elementary school.
Enrollment is projected to fall to 3,711 students in the 2010-11 school year, meaning about 400 fewer students over the next five years and $1.96 million less in state and federal funding.
School Board member Patti Happe noted two common themes in the public comments about the plan.
There were complaints that the district didn’t take enough time making the decision and questions about why another school on the city’s east side was being closed.
But she said the plan the board approved remained the best option given the district’s declining enrollment and state funding.
