NV board studies closure of Bridgewater school

GREENFIELD — A committee report to the Nodaway Valley School Board Monday night will set the stage for a board vote two nights later to decide the continued operation of a school in Bridgewater.

The district's facility study committee will report its findings to the board at 6:30 p.m. Monday (see related story). Pros and cons of closing the Bridgewater facility will be discussed, leading to a school board decision on Wednesday.

The earliest the building would be closed is after the 2009-10 school year. Last school year, Nodaway Valley West in Bridgewater housed 105 students in fourth and fifth grades in the district. Buses bring students to Bridgewater in the morning, and return to the town of population 178 in the afternoon to pick up students.

All students in lower grades attend classes at East Elementary in Greenfield, while students in seventh and eighth grades are at Nodaway Valley Middle School in Fontanelle. That school was rebuilt in 2000 after a 1998 tornado ripped into the 1915 school building. The gymnasium, erected in 1953, remains adjacent to the new building.

47 years old

The Bridgewater school was built in 1962, four years after the elementary building in Greenfield. One plan calls for fourth-grade students to join the lower grades at East Elementary, while fifth-graders would attend the middle school in Fontanelle.

"I am making a recommendation to the board," said Superintendent John Dayton, who is leaving the district this month to become superintendent of the North Cedar district. Casey Berlau, presently superintendent and K-4 principal at Elk Horn-Kimballton, will succeed Dayton.

"It's a very tough decision," said Tom Thompson of Bridgewater, a member of the facility study committee. "Sometimes when you're changing superintendents, if you can get a major change done ahead of it, the new person doesn't have to lead that through and cause hard feelings. That's probably some of the thinking."

Split vote

Thompson said he can see benefits to both sides of the issue, which has been under study by direction of the school board. At the committee's final meeting, the vote was tied 6-6 on closing the Bridgewater building or keeping it open.

"It's not surprising to me the vote was split," Thompson said. "The financial side of it is there. There's no doubt it would save money to close Bridgewater's elementary school. But, I really think the kids would suffer a little bit if they did. And, every small town is proud of where they come from, and there are fears it would hurt the town."

Dayton said Nodaway Valley schools have decreased enrollment by 170 in the past eight years, which has impacted district finances.

"Our enrollment is causing down pressure on our revenues, while expenditures are putting upward pressure on the cost of operation," Dayton said. "So we need to look at some serious issues."

Dayton said closing the Bridgewater school would save between $190,000 and $330,000 annually, depending on transportation costs, fuel and staffing needs.

Other issues studied by the committee were transporatation, classroom space, learning needs and building aesthetics. Another consideration is administration. Connie Lundy is elementary principal and currently divides her duties between the buildings in Greenfield and Bridgewater, a 15-mile distance.

One estimate for future demolition of the Bridgewater building was $80,000, but that could vary based on asbestos issues and other considerations.

Veteran teacher

Dan Dickinson, a 30-year teacher in Bridgewater, is scheduled to represent the committee in Monday's presentation to the school board. There are a number of factors cited in support of both sides of the issue.

Personally, Dickinson is quick to point out positive aspects of Nodaway Valley continuing a presence in the Bridgewater building.

"It's a very well-kept facility," Dickinson said. "It was set up for bathrooms by each room, which leads to less discipline problems and saving time. We have a nice fenced hard-surface area for kids to play (basketball), and really nice playground equipment. Having the school is very important to the town of Bridgewater, and those people have paid taxes all along, too."

Dayton says there is room in other buildings to absorb students in a district that is not growing in enrollment, but Dickinson is less convinced.

"Wherever we go, it will be more crowded," Dickinson said. "We do realize there would be a savings of having less buildings, and they would cut some jobs."

Closing the building would reduce staff in hot lunch employees, one custodian, one secretary and perhaps one or two teachers, depending on adjusted duties assigned to faculty.

According to Dayton, the district's demographics show only 4 percent of the 105 students enrolled at West Elementary last year were from Bridgewater, while 24 percent were from Fontanelle and 68 percent from Greenfield.