Smithtown board votes tonight on closing school
An undated photo of the exterior view of the Nesconset Elementary School in the Smithtown School District on Gibbs Pond Road in Nesconset. Credit: Tony Jerome
The Smithtown school board is expected to vote tonight on whether to close Nesconset Elementary School.
The meeting is set to begin at 8 p.m. at the district’s offices on 26 New York Ave. in Smithtown.
District officials say they must close a school due to rising costs and declining enrollment. Shuttering Nesconset is expected to save roughly $1 million annually.
A committee of residents and school officials last month recommended closing Nesconset — one of the district’s nine elementary schools — among several other cost-saving measures. Nesconset is the district’s smallest school.
If Nesconset is closed, most of its students would move in September to Mills Pond Elementary School in St. James; special education students are expected to attend Mount Pleasant Elementary in Smithtown.
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.
The board is not planning to act on those recommendations tonight, board president Gladys Waldron said.
Above: Nesconset Elementary School
Sarra Sounds Off Ep. 35: EI baseball, girls lacrosse and plays of the week On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," we look at East Islip baseball's inspirational comeback story, Jared Valluzzi has the plays of the week and Tess Ferguson breaks down the top defensive players in girls lacrosse.
Sarra Sounds Off Ep. 35: EI baseball, girls lacrosse and plays of the week On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," we look at East Islip baseball's inspirational comeback story, Jared Valluzzi has the plays of the week and Tess Ferguson breaks down the top defensive players in girls lacrosse.
