Big decisions, big impacts

The decision has been made. Amenia Elementary School will close. As of last week’s public hearing, kindergartners from all over the Webutuck Central School District will have to be transported to the Millerton Elementary School building for class; Millerton is now used only for the district’s pre-K program. That’s if the Board of Education does not decide to close the Millerton building, which it has discussed doing and actually came close to doing at its March 9 board meeting.

Needless to say, there are a lot of changes going on at Webutuck these days.

Those changes don’t have to be negative, and very well could be positive, but they certainly are creating an atmosphere of unrest and turmoil for many students and their families while the kinks are ironed out. Some of the agitation lies in the expectation of what’s coming down the pike.

First of all, many young students, and we’re talking 4- and 5-year-olds, will be spending a lot of time in cars and on buses on their way to Millerton for kindergarten. They used to have a quicker commute to Amenia. It must be remembered, however, that on the flip side, Millerton children have been shipped to Amenia for years. Still, as the district has been talking about consolidating its campus, it would be most advantageous to work toward bringing all kindergartners to the main campus on Haight Road. There Webutuck Elementary School could welcome pre-K through third grade and Eugene Brooks Middle School and Webutuck High School (housed in the same complex) could handle fourth through 12th grade. That plan, understandably, is not an easy one to accommodate on a campus that is limited in size. But it is something the district should be working toward; especially considering the youngest students would be traveling less as the commute would be averaged out at a centralized location for kindergarten and the earlier grade levels. Realize this: Students’ emotional ability to deal with a long commute (and when you’re 4 or 5, 25 minutes plus, alone on a big, scary bus is very long indeed) gets stretched thin. Even the most well-adjusted youngster gets overwhelmed when trying to handle the strain of travel day in and day out.

If that centralized campus plan were to be achieved there’s been talk of moving the district offices to the Millerton Elementary School building. That’s another topic that should be fleshed out following some research. Certainly it’s worth looking into. A meeting took place this past Monday, March 16, to further discuss the matter. Although no decisions were made, the board does appear to be leaning toward closing the Millerton Elementary School building and using it for its administrative offices. There is also the question of whether the Millerton building should be closed and sold outright, although that doesn’t seem to be a popular choice. The school board hopes to make its decision in April. It’s good to see the school board is working to assess its options in a timely manner.

And it did so in the case of closing Amenia Elementary as well. Whether one agrees with the decision or not, certainly the school reviewed the matter fully. Superintendent Richard Johns wrote a number of columns that were printed in this paper and also distributed via e-mail through his Key Communicator newsletters. Through those he released facts and figures about cost savings to the district in the case of closing Amenia Elementary School. The district expects to save $590,000; half of that is through personnel cuts (unfortunate but necessary). Those include the elimination of a librarian, physical education teacher, janitor, typist, grade-level teacher and part of a nursing position.

The price of the building, which the district would sell, also has to be considered. Right now there are two options: The district is leaning heavily toward “selling� the school to the town of Amenia for $1. To do so, it would need public support; a referendum vote would likely be held in May. The other option is for the district to put the school up for sale for fair market value, for which no public vote would be necessary.

The town of Amenia is considering taking over the elementary school building as its new town hall; it currently rents space from the Amenia Fire Company for $30,000 a year. There’s a question, however, as to whether the town has really taken into account all of the costs that will come along with ownership of the aging school. According to town Councilwoman Vicki Doyle, last year the school district paid $92,000 for utilities and insurance; $55,000 for general maintenance; and $82,000 for salary benefits and custodians. The bottom line is that the building, while only costing the town $1, would not be free.

So there are a lot of things for all of the players involved here to consider. Will the Millerton Elementary School be the best location for district kindergartners? Can the district move ahead to consolidate its campus on Haight Road at this point in time? What should happen with Millerton Elementary? Should the district sell the Amenia building to the town of Amenia (and should Amenia make the purchase?) or should it seek fair market value for the building?

Let’s hope the district takes all of the concerns that have been made known to it at its various public hearings and from the community before making its decision, and that when it comes time to decide it weighs the matter heavily. Its actions will impact not only our schools, our children and our community, but our future.