GUILFORD — The five-member Guilford School Board voted unanimously Jan. 21 to close out Guilford Central School's seventh- and eighth-grade classes starting next year, pending passage of the town budget next month.
The vote paves the way for Guilford Central to be strictly an elementary school and for Guilford middle school students to join Vernon students roughly six miles away at Brattleboro Area Middle School, 109 Sunny Acres Dr. in Brattleboro.
Voters will make the final decision at Annual Town Meeting on Tuesday, March 5, at 10 a.m. at the Guilford Central School gymnasium.
According to school board member Alice Revis, the middle school change, part of an overall proposed $2.9 million schools budget for 2013-14, would save the town approximately $80,000, and, with tuition paid to Brattleboro, offer students more options.
“We just can't compete with the needs that they [BAMS] have out there, such as the after-school program that they provide and their sports program,” Revis said. “There's just many more aspects that they touch on than we do.”
Declining enrollment at Guilford was another a reason for the school board's recommendation, according to Dan Systo, one of the board's vice chairs. The Central School, at 374 School Rd., is graduating 21 students this year.
The other three school board members are Tara Henry, Penny Lussier, and Carole Mills.
The Jan. 21 vote follows three years of discussion and analysis among the Guilford School Board, other school boards within the Windham Southeast Supervisory Union (WSESU), and Guilford residents.
According to Systo, the cost of quality education is on the rise and in the final analysis is beyond the reach of the town.
“The town's been flirting with the idea for many years, but this is the first time that the cost to educate a student in Guilford versus sending them to Brattleboro started to get really really close,” Systo said.
“Before, it was much cheaper to keep students in Guilford, but recently costs have swung so much that it's a really feasible option. We're giving our children the opportunity to have a better education with what BAMS has to offer.”
Publicly funded preschool proposed
Should voters approve the middle school students' move, the town has the option of establishing a publicly funded preschool in the former middle school space that can be run for significantly less than running a middle school, members of the the board suggested.
That said, Revis, who attended school in Guilford, admitted to mixed feelings about the board's decision.
“I have the emotional aspect of keeping our small community together,” she said.
She added that making sure the school board comes to a sound agreement and can speak as one body is also important.
According to Ingrid Chrisco, BAMS principal, residents attending a public informational meeting at the Central School library Monday evening voiced no major concerns about the proposal.
Systo and Revis said they believed school administrators involved would support the middle school plan, though they weren't sure how things will turn out at Guilford Town Meeting.
“Bottom line is at Town Meeting, everything could change,” Revis said.