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Report calls for the closure of Durham building
Apr 22, 2014 8:05 am
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The Cairo-Durham Elementary School located in Durham. (Courtesy cairodurham.org)[/caption]
The much anticipated Cairo-Durham Facilities Use Study is out. District administrators posted the report on its website, Mon., Apr. 21. In that report, consultant Dr. Paul Seversky has recommended the closure of the Durham elementary building, which he calculates would save the district nearly a half million dollars a year. The Cairo-Durham Elementary School located in Durham currently houses grades K to 2. The report presents two potential scenarios: Scenario A calls for housing all K to 5 students at Cairo Elementary School, with grades 6 to 12 to be served at the middle/high school building. Under Scenario B, the fifth grade would move to the middle/high school building, leaving the Cairo building to house students in grades K to four. Both building reconfiguration ideas could be accomplished without the necessity of a capital construction or a renovation plan. With either scenario the district would realize a savings of more than $480,000 in personal and building costs annually. While the proposals call for the elimination of administrative, nursing and custodial positions, neither would reduce the number of full-time equivalent teachers at the elementary level. Seversky states in the report the local perspective is the only perspective important in the final balance of determining what is educationally sound and cost effective for the district, and he calls his findings and recommendations a "roadmap" for the local public policy discussion. The findings will be presented to the Cairo-Durham Board of Education beginning at 7 p.m., Tues., Apr. 22. That meeting will be held in the middle/high school auditorium. The study documents can be found online at Cairo Durham [dot] org.
The Cairo-Durham Elementary School located in Durham. (Courtesy cairodurham.org)[/caption]The much anticipated Cairo-Durham Facilities Use Study is out. District administrators posted the report on its website, Mon., Apr. 21. In that report, consultant Dr. Paul Seversky has recommended the closure of the Durham elementary building, which he calculates would save the district nearly a half million dollars a year. The Cairo-Durham Elementary School located in Durham currently houses grades K to 2. The report presents two potential scenarios: Scenario A calls for housing all K to 5 students at Cairo Elementary School, with grades 6 to 12 to be served at the middle/high school building. Under Scenario B, the fifth grade would move to the middle/high school building, leaving the Cairo building to house students in grades K to four. Both building reconfiguration ideas could be accomplished without the necessity of a capital construction or a renovation plan. With either scenario the district would realize a savings of more than $480,000 in personal and building costs annually. While the proposals call for the elimination of administrative, nursing and custodial positions, neither would reduce the number of full-time equivalent teachers at the elementary level. Seversky states in the report the local perspective is the only perspective important in the final balance of determining what is educationally sound and cost effective for the district, and he calls his findings and recommendations a "roadmap" for the local public policy discussion. The findings will be presented to the Cairo-Durham Board of Education beginning at 7 p.m., Tues., Apr. 22. That meeting will be held in the middle/high school auditorium. The study documents can be found online at Cairo Durham [dot] org.