After a preliminary, exploratory report trying to quantify costs and potential savings if the Board of Education decided to close a local school, Board of Finance member John Godin reviewed the issue recently, updating information with the district’s own data and some school closing assumptions developed under former superintendent Janet Robinson.

With projected student population declines approaching 30 percent over the next decade, finance board Chairman John Kortze enlisted Mr Godin to initiate an analysis of budget and enrollment predictions late last year with a goal of targeting potential cost savings if and when the district determines it is feasible to close a school.

Mr Godin presented those first, and admittedly presumptive, findings January 12, fixing possible costs to close a local elementary school, the middle school, or the intermediate school. The high school and Sandy Hook Elementary were not considered in the review.

Mr Godin said at the time the issue of enrollment, and the potential for declining numbers to prompt consideration of a school closing, had been on his mind “for several months.”

“When I saw these latest enrollment numbers, to me it was a signal to begin a dialogue,” Mr Godin said. “This is a serious discussion. I don’t like talking about it, but we need to get this started.”

Mr Godin labeled his spreadsheet an “evolving document,” and presented the next version of those closing cost projections to his colleagues February 9. Even though he identified his projections as “conservative,” factoring the new data has increased the taxpayer savings potential outlined in Mr Godin’s original draft.

“The first-time go-around was a high level shot at doing that without getting any feedback at all,” he said. “I went through a second cut I got from notes from an ad-hoc committee meeting from August 2011…and a follow-up request for analysis of cost savings if we closed Head O’ Meadow.”

Mr Godin took assumptions provided by district business manager Ron Bienkowski, and included details from the ad-hoc meeting where Ms Robinson’s estimated the savings to close Head O’ Meadow would be about $1.5 million.

“This is a numeric exercise,” he said.

He said elementary school operating reductions were calculated by reducing by 100 percent all costs for administration, library, and specialists, and includes no reduction in classroom expenses. Reed School reductions were calculated by 100 percent reductions in administration and library costs, 50 percent of all costs for specialists and guidance, and no reduction in classroom expense.

Mr Godin said middle school reductions were calculated following the same format as Reed for administration, library, specialists, guidance, except core subjects such math, science, English, foreign language and social studies, which were given no reductions. Also, no reductions in classroom expense were included in the calculation.

“The assumption I went on, is if you close Reed, you send fifth grade back to the elementary schools, and sixth grade goes to the middle school,” he said.

Mr Godin also reduced custodial costs 100 percent for each school in turn, while lowering maintenance costs by 50 percent to account for anticipated lower utilities given an inactive building. He also adjusted for maintenance salaries allocated to buildings based on a percentage share of student population in fiscal year 16/17 from the district’s latest enrollment study (medium case).

He then used that medium case in the enrollment study to fix potential transportation savings based on one less school and an eight percent reduction in schoolwide student population. That represented roughly the cost for three buses.

Mr Godin additionally factored potential elimination of a school nurse position based in a reduction in the overall district workforce if a school is closed. Based on new projections factoring district information, school closing savings escalated at each building from the January estimates as follows:

*Hawley School — from $994,823 to $1,435,769

*Middle Gate — from $1,100,874 to $1,596,259

*Head O’ Meadow — from $1,060,451 to $1,594,012

*Reed Intermediate — from $1,788,456 to $2,286,601

*Middle School — from $2,002,442 to $2,453,998

No central office administrative costs or fringe benefits were factored in.

“If you look at what Ron illustrated in May of 2011, he was looking at $2.5 million at Head O’ Meadow,” Mr Godin said. He also looked at New Milford school closing data, as well as details when Monroe closed Chalk Hill School, which is currently being used to house Sandy Hook students.

“I tried to make this as fact-based as I could,” he said, adding that the savings also do not interpret what improvements might be planned as capital projects at each of those schools in the next five years.

The approved five-year Capital Improvement Plan has $3.3 million earmarked for bonding in 2017, for projects at Hawley, Middle Gate, and the middle school; another $800,000 in 2018 for the middle school; and another $990,000 in bonding requested for Middle Gate in 2019.

Superintendent Joseph V. Erardi, Jr, said he was committed to producing a report that district leaders could utilize for discussion factoring enrollment and a facilities study by June 2015, and then committed to sitting down to a collective conversation.

“Things have changed dramatically since 2011,” Dr Erardi said, and noted that since its opening, the Reed School has seen a 40 to 30 teacher workforce reduction to account for reduced enrollment.

This report was corrected on February 25 to change formerly reported health care cost savings to savings achieved by eliminating a school nurse position.