>
Support the Republican Newspaper! It’s only $9.95/year for the online edition!
Mar. 10, 2011
The Garrett County Board of Education met Tuesday in the Southern Middle School cafeteria. The venue was selected to house the crowd that attended to witness two 45-minute reports presented to the BOE by the advisory committees of Kitzmiller and Bloomington elementary schools.
The committees rehashed recent arguments for keeping the two elementary schools open. The arguments included: the detrimental effects of increasing class sizes and commute times, the loss in community center and identity, the strains that would be placed on parents and students who wish to participate in extracurricular activity, the loss in the unique and quality educational opportunities offered to students by Kitzmiller and Bloomington elementaries, that the cost of running the two schools accounted for a small portion of the overall education budget, and others.
A few members of the community chose to address the board at the time set aside for public comment and made emotional pleas to keep the schools active. The board thanked all these individuals and the committees for their thoughts and presentations.
Later this month, the BOE plans to hold public hearings to further address the issue of school closure. The first of the two hearings will be held on Tuesday, March 22, at 7 p.m. in the gymnasium of Bloomington Elementary School. The second will be held at Kitzmiller Elementary School on Thursday, March 24, at 7 p.m. in the school’s multi-purpose room.
Read the original article here.
