Should Forest Avenue Elementary School be closed if it saves the district money?
- Yes
- No
The West Babylon Union Free School District is weighing a plan to close Forest Avenue Elementary amid declining enrollment and rising costs.
At a Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 14, district officials presented the findings of a study launched last summer showing 761 fewer students since 2010 – roughly the equivalent of a large elementary school.
Enrollment is projected to continue declining over the next five years, the district said.
The study concluded that consolidating the district’s five elementary schools into four is feasible, with Forest Avenue being the most logical choice for closure given its relatively small size and concerns over transportation costs.
If the plan moves forward, students would either be reassigned to the district’s remaining four schools or all students would be grouped by grade level under what’s referred to as the "Princeton Plan."
A vacant Forest Avenue building could generate additional revenue for the district to the tune of $880,000 per year through leases with BOCES, childcare providers, or private schools, the study found.
Watch a video of Tuesday’s school board meeting here.
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