Duggan School may reopen

FRITZ MAYER
Posted 10/4/17

WHITE LAKE, NY — Members of the Bethel Town Board have been going to meetings of the board of the Monticello Central School District since the district closed the Cornelius Duggan Elementary …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Duggan School may reopen

Posted

WHITE LAKE, NY — Members of the Bethel Town Board have been going to meetings of the board of the Monticello Central School District since the district closed the Cornelius Duggan Elementary School back in 2010. After the school closed, the town board worked out an agreement with the school district whereby the town could use the building to hold town meetings and for other town activities, but the town board had always hoped that at some point the building would be once again used as an elementary school. 

At the Bethel town meeting on September 28, board member Vicky Simpson announced that the board of the school district had voted on going forward with a bond that would pay for several projects in the districts, and one of those projects would be the re-opening of the school. She said, “I am very happy to report that, after the after the persistence of this town, and the board, and our school board members… I’m thrilled to say that Duggan School is being included, and if the bond goes through, it is in the works to be re-opened.”

The capital improvement plan and the question of the bond to pay for it will be put to voters of the school district in December. 

The decision to close the school was made in order to save the district money, and a report by the New York Educational Service Council issued in 2014 said the district did save about $2 million because of the closure. But shortly after Duggan closed, the district began to have issues with classroom space at the Emma C. Chase Elementary School in Wurtsboro.

So, was the closing really necessary? The report delved rather deeply into the opinions about various people connected with the district, and said among many other things, “There were differing opinions from administrators as to whether the board of education had the necessary information required to make a fully informed decision to close the Duggan School. There was complete agreement that the ‘lines were drawn hastily,’” being overly influenced by the location of the bus garage, and “were not well done at all.”

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here