Vernon school could close

By Nathan Mayberg
VERNON — Vernon interim Superintendent of Schools Arthur DiBenedetto has recommended the closure of the Cedar Mountain Primary School.

The potential closing of the elementary school, which serves grades 2 through 4, will be discussed at an informational hearing at Lounsberry Hollow Middle School on Thursday at 7 p.m.

DiBenedetto proposed the closure in light of continual decreasing enrollment at the school district.

In a statement on the school's website, DiBenedetto posted a graphic which showed that the school district's population has decreased by nearly 2,000 students since 2001, while the budget has grown by more than $16 million.

In 2001, there were 5,418 students in the district. Last year, there were 3,499 students counted.

"Review of the data demonstrates that the BOE (Board of Education) has been very generous in terms of the start-up of new programs, fulfilling mandated requirements that impact finances and providing the district’s students and teachers with more than ample tools of education," DiBenedetto said in a statement online. "However, the continued drop in enrollment logically designates that spending should decrease and until recently, it has not. Furthermore the district has housed over 5,500 students in six buildings and enrollment now hovers around 3,300. Again logic designates that consideration of closing a building should be a topic of discussion."

With 28 classrooms, Cedar Mountain Primary School was chosen due to having the fewest classrooms in the district with 28.

DiBenedetto first proposed the closure at a July School board meeting.

Vernon Board of Education President David Zweier said no decision on the closure has been made yet.

The decision will be driven by the district's financials, enrollment figures, school building space utilization as well as input from school staff and the community, Zweier said. The board will be considering all of those issues.

He does not expect a decision this month or "necessarily in the near term."

Zweier said there has been "a lot of buzz" in the community regarding the decision.

"We encourage people to come and hear the discussion and participate," Zweier said. "The community is the most important part of this. Hopefully, we can help them with the discussions that we have."