Sarah Trafton is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media registered voters in the Cairo-Durham school district will be asked to vote June 9 on a proposal to donate the former Durham Elementary School to Questar III. The building closed in 2013 after low enrollment led to the district consolidating all K-5 classes at Cairo Elementary School. In 2018, Questar III BOCES began offering a heavy equipment operation and maintenance program at the building. The program is a two-year course based on the National Center for Construction Education and Research curriculum. Twenty-nine of the 35 students currently enrolled in the program are from Greene County, The proposition to donate the building was adopted by the Board of Education on March 12. If voters approve the transfer, in addition to the heavy equipment program, Questar III would also use the building to house career and technical education programs, special education programs and adult certificate programs, according to the Cairo-Durham district. “Not only would this donation bring much-needed educational programming to Greene County that would benefit the needs of our students and residents, but the district stands to save more than $100,000 per year in operational costs,” said Cairo-Durham Board of Education President Steve Brandow. In addition to the operational costs, the building is in need of $3 million in repairs to address maintenance issues. The June 9 school board election and annual budget vote will be conducted by absentee ballots. All qualified voters will receive an absentee ballot and a postage paid return envelope in the mail. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.