Closure of Brant, Hoag schools in Lake Shore School District is another step closer to reality
By DAVE DAHL
Sun correspondent reporter
Two elementary schools will close in the Lake Shore Central School District if the Board of Education follows the superintendent’s recommendation for consolidation.
Superintendent Jeffrey Rabey gave the board his preference for reducing the number of schools during a work session Tuesday night, March 2.
He suggested shuttering the Brant and W.T. Hoag elementary schools over the next two years to save $910,006.
“I am recommending that we move forward with a two-year phase-in consolidation plan,” he said.
If the board approves the proposal, the Brant school would shut down at the school year’s end and its pupils would be divided between the J.T. Waugh and A.J. Schmidt elementary schools.
In the following year, pupils at the Hoag school would be distributed among the Waugh, Schmidt and Highland elementary schools and officials would redraw the three remaining elementary schools’ boundaries.
The board expects to vote on a consolidation plan at its next meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 16, in the high school library.
Cynthia Latimore, board president, urged board members to be ready to decide that night.
“We cannot procrastinate on this decision any longer,” she said.
Latimore and Rabey told board members they should ask questions before the next meeting to avoid delaying the process.
Closing the Brant school would reduce the budget by $647,087, Rabey estimated.
Six full-time teaching positions would be eliminated to produce a $270,000 savings and 1.1 special-area faculty positions in subjects such as art, music and physical education would be cut to trim $49,500.
Removing the nurse, cleaner, custodian and a secretary would amount to three full-time position cuts for a $151,025 decrease.
The district also expects to save $15,198 on natural gas and $11,364 on electricity. Rabey estimated selling the building and eliminating maintenance expenses and other costs could result in at least $150,000.
After redistributing the Hoag school’s pupils, the district would continue to use the building for pre-kindergarten and community education. In addition, BOCES may rent space in the school.
“That would be a revenue stream,” Rabey said.
Pulling pupils from the Hoag school would let the district slice 2.2 full-time faculty positions at $108,000 and a full-time nurse, secretary and administrator for a combined decrease of $154,919.
Consolidating the schools would also require changes to the district-wide renovation project.
Officials have been discussing consolidation for the past year because of declining enrollment and budgetary worries.
Rabey presented two options to the board in February. Besides his recommended plan, he described a proposal that would only eliminate the Brant school.
The board decided in January not to shift fifth-graders to the middle school. Board members voted to maintain the Brant school in December 2008 but left open the possibility the structure might close someday.
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