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Candidates split on closing an elementary school; all call for careful planning
Summary
At a Scotia-Glenville Board of Education candidate forum, several candidates addressed long-discussed proposals to close an elementary school, highlighting tradeoffs including transportation costs, family disruption and possible repurposing of buildings.
Candidates for the Scotia-Glenville Central School District board of education told voters that closing an elementary school would be difficult, would require broad community input and would need strategic planning to avoid harming students and families.
At a meet‑the‑candidates forum, candidate Kimberly Talbot said closing a school would save only a small amount financially and could increase transportation costs and staffing disruptions. “There is a small savings there. But is it beneficial to all of our students? That’s the question,” Talbot said.
Talbot said she prefers keeping neighborhood schools together rather than moving to grade‑level centers because of the difficulty it creates for families and the loss of intergrade mentoring. “I don’t enjoy, honestly, grade level schooling because as a parent, I would not want my 1 child at this school, 1 child here, 1 child there,” she said.
Candidate Christina Coughlin urged involving educators and families in the study and planning, and cited research on transitions: “We do know from research that when students go through those kinds of changes that there’s learning loss,” she said, urging teacher buy‑in for any reconfiguration.
Candidate Mike Trolley said he favors “right‑sizing” the district but stressed that the decision must be a community choice: “At the end of the day, it should be a group decision,” he said, adding that the district should study options and explore how to get broad community support.
Other candidates framed possible repurposing options: Talbot suggested using a closed building for universal pre‑K or expanded local special‑needs programming, while candidates repeatedly said an enrollment study and outside analysis of housing and demographic trends should inform any move.
The candidates agreed on process points: keep families, teachers and staff involved; study demographic and enrollment trends; and weigh costs beyond immediate budget savings, including transportation and staffing impacts.
The forum was a candidate event; no board action or formal vote took place during the discussion.
