MAPS board reaffirms decision to close Pine River
The Merrill Area Public Schools Board of Education reinforced its earlier decision to close Pine River Elementary School last Wednesday, after voting to do so the previous Thursday.
The vote came after board member Loretta Baughan presented a plan that would close Prairie River Middle School while incorporating grades 7 and 8 into the high school and returning 6th graders to the elementary schools. She said her plan would require Pine River to remain open as an elementary school. Under the current board-approved plan, Pine River would become the new home of MAPS Head Start-Early Childhood-4K program.
Pointing to declining enrollment projections, Baughan said her proposed change could be made as early as the 2012-2013 school year. With PRMS closed, the district would still have excess classroom capacity, Baughan said. Sixth graders could be moved to the elementary schools in September 2012 and the change at the high school could be made in September 2013, she said.
Under Baughan's proposal, the PRMS building could be sold to a developer to be converted into a residential complex.
"I'm just getting my idea out there," Baughan said. "This has the potential to affect our district for years to come."
Larry LePage, executive vice president of Somerville, the district's architectural consultant, offered several reasons that Baughan's proposal would not be feasible. He said classroom capacity figures - which Baughan took from a report prepared by Somerville - can be misleading, as they don't reflect the capacity of the school as a whole.
"I don't know a school that can do better than 85 percent capacity," he said, adding that the design of the high school building would make it difficult to incorporate even one more grade. "You could never get to capacity ideally at Merrill High School," he said. "I don't see any way we could put two (more grades) in there without adding classrooms or a wing."
Moving 6th grade to the elementary schools also poses problems, LePage said. Washington and Jefferson schools don't have room for another grade, he said, and Jefferson is actually short of classrooms now.
"Moving 6th grade into the elementary schools is going to cost the district money," LePage said.
The PRMS building would be a hard sell, LePage said. To convert the building to residential would be very expensive to meet code requirements.
Board member Lin Kautza said Baughan's proposal speaks to the need for longer-range planning.
"Loretta's presentation made me aware that we need to have a plan for the next couple of years," Kautza said. "I think consolidation can work if the educational value of it is retained."
Kautza suggested that keeping Pine River as an elementary school could keep the district's options open.
"Maybe there are other ways to do this without closing a school," she said. "We have a lot of different scenarios to consider."
"Trying to close Pine River right now is a hasty decision," Baughan added.
Interim Superintendent Bruce Anderson noted that the district is not considering selling Pine River School. In fact, grant money available through the 4K program would pay for needed upgrades to the building.
"That building will still be there in 2016 (when enrollment is projected to level off). The board will still have the option (to turn it back into an elementary school)," he said. "We're protecting the taxpayers down the line by doing the energy projects."
In the end the board voted to stick with the plan that closes Pine River as an elementary school and moves Head Start-Early Childhood-4K into the building. Baughan's proposal was referred to the board's Long Range Facilities Committee for further review, with the idea to come up with a 3-5 year plan.
The vote came after board member Loretta Baughan presented a plan that would close Prairie River Middle School while incorporating grades 7 and 8 into the high school and returning 6th graders to the elementary schools. She said her plan would require Pine River to remain open as an elementary school. Under the current board-approved plan, Pine River would become the new home of MAPS Head Start-Early Childhood-4K program.
Pointing to declining enrollment projections, Baughan said her proposed change could be made as early as the 2012-2013 school year. With PRMS closed, the district would still have excess classroom capacity, Baughan said. Sixth graders could be moved to the elementary schools in September 2012 and the change at the high school could be made in September 2013, she said.
Under Baughan's proposal, the PRMS building could be sold to a developer to be converted into a residential complex.
"I'm just getting my idea out there," Baughan said. "This has the potential to affect our district for years to come."
Larry LePage, executive vice president of Somerville, the district's architectural consultant, offered several reasons that Baughan's proposal would not be feasible. He said classroom capacity figures - which Baughan took from a report prepared by Somerville - can be misleading, as they don't reflect the capacity of the school as a whole.
"I don't know a school that can do better than 85 percent capacity," he said, adding that the design of the high school building would make it difficult to incorporate even one more grade. "You could never get to capacity ideally at Merrill High School," he said. "I don't see any way we could put two (more grades) in there without adding classrooms or a wing."
Moving 6th grade to the elementary schools also poses problems, LePage said. Washington and Jefferson schools don't have room for another grade, he said, and Jefferson is actually short of classrooms now.
"Moving 6th grade into the elementary schools is going to cost the district money," LePage said.
The PRMS building would be a hard sell, LePage said. To convert the building to residential would be very expensive to meet code requirements.
Board member Lin Kautza said Baughan's proposal speaks to the need for longer-range planning.
"Loretta's presentation made me aware that we need to have a plan for the next couple of years," Kautza said. "I think consolidation can work if the educational value of it is retained."
Kautza suggested that keeping Pine River as an elementary school could keep the district's options open.
"Maybe there are other ways to do this without closing a school," she said. "We have a lot of different scenarios to consider."
"Trying to close Pine River right now is a hasty decision," Baughan added.
Interim Superintendent Bruce Anderson noted that the district is not considering selling Pine River School. In fact, grant money available through the 4K program would pay for needed upgrades to the building.
"That building will still be there in 2016 (when enrollment is projected to level off). The board will still have the option (to turn it back into an elementary school)," he said. "We're protecting the taxpayers down the line by doing the energy projects."
In the end the board voted to stick with the plan that closes Pine River as an elementary school and moves Head Start-Early Childhood-4K into the building. Baughan's proposal was referred to the board's Long Range Facilities Committee for further review, with the idea to come up with a 3-5 year plan.
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