The future of the Turnpike Elementary School in Mildred, Sullivan County has been decided. At a meeting Tuesday night at the Sullivan County High School, school board members voted five to three in favor of closing the school.
School officials said the decision boiled down to a decrease in enrollment and funding.
"The analogy I'd like to make is recently two Catholic churches closed in Sullivan County. They didn't close the churches because they wanted to, it's because they couldn't afford them," said Superintendent Steve Gobble.
At the meeting, parents questioned the future quality of education.
"We need to have a plan. We need to know how many kids are going to be in every classroom," said parent Sue Mullen. "We can't go anywhere unless we know that."
"You're going to vote on something where you don't have an answer where my son's going to go to school?" asked parent Kathryn Nelson. "What about my son's education?"
The idea is to consolidate the Turnpike Elementary School in Mildred with the Sullivan County Elementary School in Laporte.
Parents wanted to know how the school in Laporte could handle an influx of the 130 students from the Turnpike School, since no building plans have been discussed.
"If they want to consolidate, fine. Let's have a plan. Give me the honest assessment. If you're going to raise my taxes, come and tell me that. If you're going to build, come and tell me that," said parent Michael Baldwin. "They have none of that, but then they go and close a perfectly good Blue Ribbon School," Baldwin said, referring to the national academic award the Turnpike School won in 2007.
"I'm worried and scared. I don't know where he's going to be in school. I don't know if they're going to end up doing the portable classrooms because they're going to have to do something quick," said Nelson.
The Sullivan County school superintendent said the district will discuss building projects to help with consolidation at the school in Laporte, however, those plans will take some time before they are finalized.
The Turnpike Elementary School is scheduled to close after the 2010-2011 school year.
School officials said the decision boiled down to a decrease in enrollment and funding.
"The analogy I'd like to make is recently two Catholic churches closed in Sullivan County. They didn't close the churches because they wanted to, it's because they couldn't afford them," said Superintendent Steve Gobble.
At the meeting, parents questioned the future quality of education.
"We need to have a plan. We need to know how many kids are going to be in every classroom," said parent Sue Mullen. "We can't go anywhere unless we know that."
"You're going to vote on something where you don't have an answer where my son's going to go to school?" asked parent Kathryn Nelson. "What about my son's education?"
The idea is to consolidate the Turnpike Elementary School in Mildred with the Sullivan County Elementary School in Laporte.
Parents wanted to know how the school in Laporte could handle an influx of the 130 students from the Turnpike School, since no building plans have been discussed.
"If they want to consolidate, fine. Let's have a plan. Give me the honest assessment. If you're going to raise my taxes, come and tell me that. If you're going to build, come and tell me that," said parent Michael Baldwin. "They have none of that, but then they go and close a perfectly good Blue Ribbon School," Baldwin said, referring to the national academic award the Turnpike School won in 2007.
"I'm worried and scared. I don't know where he's going to be in school. I don't know if they're going to end up doing the portable classrooms because they're going to have to do something quick," said Nelson.
The Sullivan County school superintendent said the district will discuss building projects to help with consolidation at the school in Laporte, however, those plans will take some time before they are finalized.
The Turnpike Elementary School is scheduled to close after the 2010-2011 school year.
