Low enrollment figures, coupled with a dismal budget outlook, has Valley Central School District officials considering closing down Maybrook Elementary School and sending its approximately 230 kindergarten through fifth grade students to one of the district’s surrounding grade schools.

“We’ve had some preliminary discussions but no decisions have been made yet,” said Superintendent Dr. Richard Hooley, adding that the same issue has come up many years in the past.

“What makes it different this year is that our enrollment numbers are down throughout the district and the budget outlook is so awful,” he said.

Partly due to decreased state aid and late state aid payments, Hooley explained that the district is looking at having to make nearly $4 million in reductions in order to come up with a 2010-2011 budget to be passed by the public. The closing of Maybrook is just one of the possible cost-saving measures being considered by the district, he said. Another? The idea of going from full-day to half-day kindergarten.

“I’m in my eighth year at Valley Central,” Hooley explained. “A couple years before I got here, we went from half-day to full-day kindergarten and now we’re considering going back. Personally, I hate the idea and I’m going to work hard to try to avoid that but it’s just among the array of things being discussed.”

Looking back, Hooley remembers how 2009-2010 was considered a tough budget year with cuts being made across the board. Now, with the threat of more significant reductions to staff and programs looming, it’s not hard to see how things have gotten worse.

“We’re not a district that has a lot of surplus,” Hooley said. “It’s not easy for us to find $4 million in cuts so unfortunately it would have to come from these kinds of efficiencies.”

Should the decision to close Maybrook Elementary be made, Hooley was adamant that the district would keep the building in case enrollment numbers improve in the future.

“I want to say loudly and clearly; if we should go ahead with this plan, we would not sell or close down building,” he said, explaining that it could possibly be used to temporarily house offices or programs.

“We want to keep it as a safety valve in case there is growth again in Orange County,” he said.

The Superintendent stressed that no decisions surrounding the cuts have been made yet and urged community members to attend the first in a series of Citizens’ Advisory Budget Committee meetings on Feb. 1 to weigh in on the budget building process.

Members of the Maybrook Village Board plan to attend the February school board meeting and many residents say they will too.

“I was informed earlier this past week that discussions are taking place in regards to closing Maybrook Elementary School,” Maybrook Mayor Dennis Leahy said during Monday’s Village Board meeting. “The Maybrook Elementary School is a very special part of this community and has been for decades.”

Leahy said he has already been in touch with Hooley and Valley Central school board President Robert Santo to discuss the situation. And the three plan to meet later this week.

“I am currently gathering as much information that I can in regards to this issue,” Leahy continued. “I want to make sure that there is some dialogue between the Village Board and the school board before any decisions are set in stone.”

The Village Board has no official part or legal standing when it comes to the school board and its budget and other decisions. But Leahy and the rest of the Village Board promised to keep a close watch on developments concerning MES.

“I have been informed that public hearings will be held to discuss this issue further.  I encourage all residents to attend the public hearing and voice their opinions.  I will be attending the public hearing. Let me just make something perfectly clear:  This village board will do everything possible to avoid the closing of the Maybrook Elementary School.”

Many in Maybrook say they are also concerned about the possible closing because it will lead to a decline in property values. Who, they ask, will want to buy a house in a village with no local elementary school?  Others stress the atmosphere at the school that welcomes parent involvement and nurtures each student because of its small size. Others say parents at Montgomery and Berea elementary schools should also be concerned if Maybrook Elementary is closed because that means class sizes could increase when Maybrook students are bused to the neighboring schools.

Leahy said he believes that the school board and Hooley “are exhausting all avenues to avoid the closing”. He promised that he and the Village board “plan to do so as well.”

Leahy and the rest of the Village Board also promised to attend the Feb.1 Valley Central meeting and they urge all residents to do the same.

“A lot of people are upset that Maybrook may not have its own elementary school,” Leahy said. “It is a great little school and it would be a tremendous loss to this village if that school is to close. We’ll do whatever we can to try to keep the school open”

Fellow Village Board members couldn’t agree more.

“Our hands are tied on this,” Trustee Kevin Greany said, referring to the Village Board’s lack of authority. “Everybody — and I mean all residents — has to get out to the Feb. 1 meeting. We’re going to work hard on this.”

By Jessica McAleese
jmcaleese@tcnewspapers.com

Audeen Moore contributed to this story