CRESCENT, Iowa (AP) - School district officials recommend closing Crescent Elementary at the end of the 2016-2017 school year due to declining enrollment.
The Council Bluffs Community School District board will hear a presentation on the potential closing during its meeting on Feb. 14, The Daily Nonpareil (https://bit.ly/2jeFRE6 ) reports. Superintendent Martha Bruckner says the school is too small and is only half full.
The school district cited declining enrollment as a key factor in the decision to recommend closing the school. Fifty-seven students who live in the Crescent Elementary boundary attend other schools.
A letter to parents noted that the district would save an estimated $180,000 annually if it closed Crescent Elementary.
“We love Crescent. We’ve maybe kept it open out of emotion instead of rational thinking over the last couple years,” Bruckner said. “But how many years do you wait?”
The school has 85 students, and two classes are a combination of two grades.
District spokeswoman Diane Ostrowski says that if the decision is approved at the Feb. 28 vote, Crescent students and teachers will move to Lewis and Clark Elementary in Council Bluffs.
“If we don’t have 20 or so kids at first grade, but have 8 and 12 in second grade - it makes sense from a practicality and efficiency standpoint to combine into one classroom,” Ostrowski said. “Teachers are skilled at meeting the needs of kids, but clearly this isn’t ideal.”
Crescent Mayor Brian Shea said the move “pulls the guts out of the town.” Shea said the vote comes a day before open enrollment deadline, which can affect parents’ decisions on where to send their children for school. He said he would work to keep the school open.
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Information from: The Daily Nonpareil, https://www.nonpareilonline.com
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