Nesconset Elementary School shuts in June

Nesconset Elementary School will close at the end of the school year in June due to rising costs and declining enrollment, Smithtown school district officials said Tuesday night.

"This is one of the hardest things I've ever done," said school board vice president Theresa Knox, a former Nesconset PTA president, of the unanimous closure vote. "In my heart, I do not believe this is best."

The smallest school in the Smithtown district, Nesconset joins a growing list of Long Island schools that are slated to close this year, including elementary schools in the West Islip, Baldwin and North Bellmore districts and six parochial schools operated by the Diocese of Rockville Centre.

But unlike those schools, opposition to closing Nesconset was virtually nonexistent in Smithtown. Parents said they understood the reasons for the closure and would help their children make the transition to a new school.

With the closing of the school decided, Smithtown officials will revise boundaries that determine where students attend the district's remaining eight elementary schools.

District officials have said they plan to hold orientation sessions to help students and their parents become acclimated to their new schools.

A committee of residents and school officials last month recommended closing Nesconset among several other cost-saving measures. Other cost-control measures recommended by the committee include moving staff out of district offices and into vacant space in school buildings; renting out the closed elementary school and district offices; and selling vacant parcels owned by the district.