Crystal Lake Elementary will close this summer if the Lakeville school board heeds the advice of a consultant who recommended the move Thursday.
Many residents have known for weeks that the board plans to close one of the school district's nine elementary schools. That decision was made last month, one of many belt-tightening measures in a two-year, $15.8 million budget-patching plan. But the presentation from Wold Architects and Engineers was the first official indication of which school will be picked.
The choice drew tears from some at Thursday's meeting, including Julie Urban, a fifth-grade teacher who has taught at Crystal Lake for 14 years. "It's tough. We have a really close staff. ... We have such great relationships with families," she said.
The board seems all but certain to approve the recommendation on Tuesday. To close a school this year, the board must pick the building and redraw attendance boundaries districtwide before administrators can tell employees where they will work this fall, which puts school leaders on a tight timeline, Superintendent Gary Amoroso said.
An earlier proposal from Amoroso would have closed a school in 2012, but the board opted to make the move this year and reap an extra year of savings.
The recommendation was based on a study of district facilities that, under ideal circumstances, would have taken three to six months and involved more community input, consultants said.
Crystal Lake was chosen for several reasons, they said. The school is one of five clustered in northeastern Lakeville, where the district has the most available space compared to the number of students who live nearby. It's also one of three buildings whose student populations could be absorbed by neighboring schools.
The board plans to keep the building, possibly for community education programs.
