At the Montrose School District Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, the superintendent and an assembled committee presented information regarding the district’s budget. Due to potential state-level budget cuts and falling enrollment, the committee suggested merging Pomona Elementary or Northside Elementary with existing Montrose schools. Shannon Bingham, a school planning consultant with over 40 years of experience, shared some insight into declining enrollment, saying that alternatives to local public schools are attracting more students.
The committee clarified that if one of the elementary schools is closed, the facility will be repurposed for other programming, and will continue to be used by the district. Board member Tiffany Vincent asked the committee about the recent purchase of a building to use as the district’s field house, and if one of the elementary schools could have been used for this purpose instead. The committee clarified that wasn't the case.
The board decided to postpone the decision, and will use the April 28 session to discuss options after having more time to look at the information provided by the committee, and to potentially get input from community members. Board president Neisha Balleck stressed the importance of communicating with the public that the board has not made a decision yet.
KVNF will continue reporting on this story as the board considers its options.
