District saved money by closing Lincoln school

Closing Lincoln Elementary School at the end of the 2009-10 school year and relocating The Opportunity Center there for the 2010-11 school year has proven to be a cost-saving move for the Fairfield Community School District.

Fred McElwee, the district?s auxiliary services director, presented information to the school board Monday showing a net savings of $300,070.

?That is pretty much what we predicted,? said board member Doug Flournoy.

School officials had predicted a savings of $333,394 through personnel, transportation and utility cost changes by discontinuing use of Lincoln as an elementary school.

Officials also had said relocating the high school?s alternative school, The Opportunity Center, from the lower level of the Fairfield Senior Citizen Center to a designated area in Lincoln school would save $11,230 on rent, custodial services and insurance at the senior center.

Officials predicted it would cost $22,500 for utilities, custodial supplies and services and general maintenance to have The Opportunity Center at Lincoln. McElwee said the actual cost was $17,767.

The district realized a $306,607 savings from closing Lincoln and incurred a $6,537 cost to move The Opportunity Center to Lincoln for a net savings of $300,070.

The Fairfield school board voted in March 2010 to close Lincoln school, redistribute the kindergarten through fourth grade students to the other three elementary schools and move the fifth-graders to an area of Fairfield Middle School to save the district money and to deal with declining enrollment.

After the board voted to close Lincoln, members learned moving The Opportunity Center into the building could help save the district additional funds.

The rationale: ?This is the most cost effective use of the facility for the 2010-2011 school year ? . The estimated expense of maintaining the facility unoccupied is $16,227. Estimated cost of operating the facility with The Opportunity Center located there is $22,550. If the present annual lease cost of $9,360 and $1,000 savings for Internet connectivity is deducted from this cost, it becomes a viable option financially.?

The board voted in May to relocate The Opportunity Center, and board member Ralph Messerli had said because Lincoln was closed to save money, and because moving The Opportunity Center into Lincoln also was supposed to save money, he wanted a cost analysis completed after the first year to see if money really was saved.

Also at the school board meeting Monday, fifth-grade teacher Lisa Greenig showed a quilt that will hang at FMS to commemorate the first fifth-graders to go to school there.

Greenig said each fifth grader made his or her own square, and she put them together this summer to form the quilt.

?Fifth grade at the middle school was not that terrible,? she told the school board members.

Many parents and community members had not wanted the fifth graders moved to the middle school.