Elmbrook School Board Focuses on Five Options for School Closures

After discussion and comments from a standing-room only crowd, the Elmbrook School Board decided to narrow options for school closures from nine options to five at Tuesday night's school board meeting.

The board had broadened the options earlier this month after deciding to consider a number of different scenarios, including moving district offices to Burleigh or Swanson elementary schools.

However, those options were dropped after projected costs savings were estimated to be only $45,000 to $50,000 for moving the district offices to another building, outweighing the projected costs of moving students other schools.

The School Board will consider the remaining options at a work session Sept. 6.

Still on the table for consideration is closing a smaller school, either or ; closing both Hillside and Tonawanda; or closing or , both bigger schools.

The district isn’t considering closing or elementary schools because those schools are relatively new and located right in the center of the district, making them the most flexible schools the district has, School Superintendent Matt Gibson said.

Gibson said that the idea of closing larger schools emerged out of a number of different ideas, one in fairness to Tonawanda and Hillside but also that the district could save more money by closing a bigger school and it could possibly prevent the district from having to close two schools. On the downside, closing a larger school would have a larger impact district-wide in terms of relocating students.

Options to be considered at the Sept. 6 work session:

1. Closing Hillside: All Hillside students would move to Brookfield Elementary. Some Brookfield Elementary students would move to Swanson or Dixon if needed. Projected cost savings of $1.2 million. 
2. Closing Tonawanda: All Tonawanda students would move to Dixon Elementary. Some Dixon students would move to Burleigh Elementary. Projected cost savings of $1.4 million.
3. Closing both Hillside and Tonawanda: The student relocations would occur as listed in Nos. 1 and 2. Projected cost savings of $2.6 million. 
4. Closing Burleigh: Details of student relocations were not yet available. Projected cost savings of $1.6 million.
5. Closing Swanson: Relocation details not available. Projected cost savings of $1.5 million.

The closing of schools is necessary, School Board President Thomas Gehl said, because even after recent statewide changes in collective bargaining and health and pension contributions, the district will still have a shortfall.

“While we no longer have a $16.5 million budget gap, we still have a $11.4 million budget gap over a five-year period,” he said.

Gehl said that it was time for the board to make a decision on the issue.

“I don’t believe we should put this community through any further discussion and all the consternation that those discussions generate beyond the end of October or the first meeting in November,” Gehl said. “And quite frankly, I don’t believe this board can continue to govern effectively if we continue to discuss it.”

Tuesday night, discussion by the board and district officials centered on cost savings of the different scenarios but most audience members spoke in support of their schools with a few urging the board to be practical in the matter.

More than one audience member encouraged the board to look for other ways to close the budget gap, including increasing enrollment.

Audience members from Elm Grove said that closing Tonawanda would disproportionately impact Elm Grove.

“To me, what it looks like you’re doing is making the whole district more affordable … on the backs of one or two schools that are smaller,” one Tonawanda parent said.

A Hillside parent said her family would choose private schools if Hillside were to close because they were not willing to put their kids in an elementary school with more than 1,000 children. But she also said that she was concerned as a taxpayer because home values drop eight to 10 percent when a neighborhood elementary school closes.

Another parent said she was concerned about the district in general.

“I’m not going to turn this into a big school versus small school issue. Everyone’s school is valuable. Elmbrook is a great district but if we start pinching pennies here and there and cutting everything down, people aren’t going to want to be here anymore,” resident Lynne Thomas said.

School Board Member Bob Ziegler said that closing schools was a very difficult decision the board would have to make.

“Every school is valued in this district. Every school is popular … because they’ve built a community. And we’re going to have change one of these communities tremendously. It’s not easy. None of us want to do it,” he said.