ABERDEEN — The Aberdeen School District expects to save an undetermined sum of money next year by closing two schools.
Aberdeen Middle School on Commerce Street isn”t out of commission permanently, but it”s out of the picture for the coming school year as renovations to remove asbestos are taking longer than expected.
Prairie Elementary, located approximately 10 miles outside of Aberdeen, near the Clay County line, will be closed to save on transportation costs. Prairie students had been forced to endure four bus rides — one into town and another to Prairie and the opposite in the evenings — to get to and from school each day.
Students in grades kindergarten-two will attend Aberdeen Elementary School; grades three-five will attend Bell Elementary School, and grades six-eight will attend Shivers Junior High School. Aberdeen High School will continue to house grades nine-12.
Aberdeen Superintendent of Education Chester Leigh says the decision was made to close Aberdeen Middle for the duration of the year after asbestos work began later than expected. A firm completion date still has not been determined.
“We”d rather reassign (students) than move them in the middle of the year,” said Leigh.
With more time for architects and engineers to return to the drawing board, Leigh said Aberdeen Middle may receive a few additional enhancements, but didn”t speculate on what those may include.
“When you”re doing a major project like this, I”m sure there will be other renovations. It”s an old building so we”ll find some other stuff to bring up to modern standards,” he said.
Bell and Shivers, which will host the three grades displaced by the closings, have ample room to accommodate the students, according to Leigh.
In addition to the obvious transportation and energy savings, Leigh says the district will also save on administrative costs. No employees or salaries have been cut due to the consolidation, but several administrative positions lost through attrition will not be replaced. All administrative and non-teaching employees from the closed schools have been reassigned.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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