(Anita) The CAM School Board has finalized a Facilities Committee Recommendation to close the Attendance Center.
The Board voted 5-0 on Monday to close the north elementary building in Anita. “Next year the Pre-K through 6th Elementary will be in Massena and the 7-12 High School will be in Anita. After that we’ll spend the summer here working on the goal of three attendance centers to two to one. The board will continue to work on that next month as well.”
The process began a couple of years ago according to Superintendent Paul Croghan. “We started this conversation a couple of years ago and the bond failed. We had a year when we lost 27 students and we started to look at those things and the viability of the school district. We started in January with a facility committee meeting monthly and sometimes subcommittees meeting twice a month.”
The recommendation was made in April to close the north elementary. “They looked at square footage, costs, immediate needs of the building and those costs, what you would save on buildings in the general fund, and the environment in which we could educate kids and give them the best educational environment. All those things were being considered. It was open to the public and took public input. We had a public meeting in March and then facility committee had a meeting in early April and then after that they finalized a presentation to the board.”
Croghan says these things are part of a short term plan into a long term plan. They’ll get busy moving things around during the summer to prepare for next school year. He appreciates everyone’s time and effort that has been put in.
