Another Victim of the Economy
Last night we got the sad news that the school board agreed to back Hood River County School District Superintendant's recommendation to close Pine Grove Elementary School. The closure comes after the announcement several weeks ago that the school district budget came up $3.5 million short. For a little school district, that's huge.
Pine Grove is the smallest of the elementary schools in the district, while Mid-Valley Elementary school is currently not filled to capacity. Pine Grove students will be moved to Mid-Valley next September. While the closure is not written in stone yet, the recommendation makes a reversal unlikely. Of course, the closure is only one of many budget cuts, but it's the closest to my heart, as I work at Pine Grove in Special Education three hours a day. Pine Grove Elementary has operated in this building for 120+ years.
The frustrating part is that if the district could just hold on for another couple years, the recovering economy will contribute enough additional students at both Pine Grove and Mid-Valley to make the closure unnecessary. Our region was burgeoning just three years ago, growing fast, attracting new families. I'm confident building will continue before long, the families will come and our schools will need to expand. But the district can't wait that long.
So for now we'll keep hoping for a miracle and try to make the best of the last few months we have left in our beloved school.
Gretchen Ahrens
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