Board votes tonight on fate of 62-year-old school

WEST CARROLLTON — Clos-ing an elementary school that has fewer than half of the students of any of West Carrollton’s three others is to be voted on tonight.

Administrators in West Carrollton City Scho o ls said Frank Nicholas Ele- mentary needs to be shut down because of declining enrollment across the district, which include parts of Miami Twp. and Moraine.

Closing the school is a “fiscally responsible” move that will save West Carroll- ton between $700,000 and $800,000, Superintendent Andrea Townsend said.

The 62-year-old Nicholas building on Vance Road in Moraine has 167 students, while the other buildings housing grades 1-5 — C.F. Holliday, Harry Russell and Harold Schnell, a year-round school — all have at least 383.

Districtwide, West Carrollton’s enrollment has dropped from 3,911 in 2015 to 3,540 last year, according to Jack Haag, business manager.

School board President Leslie Miller said she expects the board to approve the closing of Nicholas effective at the end of its school year.

“They will see the school year out,” she said. “They will close out the school year.”

If the closing is approved, students would be “re-dis- tricted” to the other three buildings housing grades 1-5, Townsend said. The deadline for Nicholas students to apply for Schnell was Feb. 15.

“They will be given pref- erence to our year-round school,” Townsend said in an email.

Parents will be notified of placement by May 15, Townsend said. The district will seek to re-assign all 34 staff members — including 12 teachers — to other buildings, officials said.

The recommendation to close Nicholas follows a comprehensive review of district financial, enrollment and staffing data, according to the district.