School Closure Debate

One of two elementary schools in Klamath Falls will close next year due to a tight budget...and parents from both schools have strong arguments as to why their school should remain open.

Pelican School parent Kristen Leist and her friends have plenty of questions about the proposed closure...

"Once the schools close, what will happen to the facility?  What will be the costs of locking it down?  Are they going to sell the real estate, what's the plan for that?"

Klamath Falls City Schools Superintendent Dr. Paul Hillyer says the city school board will decide October 9th whether to close Fairview Elementary School, or Pelican Elementary School.

"Fairview School has about four million dollars in projects that need to be done, probably over the next ten years to keep that building going.  And Pelican has about three million."

Residents of both neighborhoods are concerned that property values will drop if their school closes.

"If it was to close, those students would have to be put on busses to go to other schools."  Notes Fairview School parent Erica Wilson.  "Those schools would then become more overcrowded than they already are."

District officials say that closing a school will save about a quarter of a million dollars...but Kristen Leist isn't so sure.

"Is it really going to be a cost savings?  Because closing the school, relocating the children will incur its own expenses."

The meeting to take public comment on the proposed closure of either Fairview or Pelican schools will take place at 7:PM Wednesday evening in the Lucille O'Neill City Schools Administration building on Avalon.

Fairview and Pelican Elementary are two of the smallest schools in the Klamath Falls City School District.

A little over 300 students attend Fairview School, while about 230 are enrolled at Pelican Elementary.