A committee of the Cooperstown Central School board is looking into the feasibility of shutting down the second floor of the elementary school, a move which superintendent Mary Jo McPhail said would likely require increased class sizes and some staffing reductions.

The idea to cut district costs by closing the second floor was brought before the Operations, Grounds and Audit committee by Concerned Citizens member Rick Hulse at the committee’s meeting Oct. 18.

Hulse said after the meeting that the idea came about after he took a three-hour tour of the school with building and grounds supervisor Walter Bennett in August. He said the main purpose of the Concerned Citizens’ proposal was to reduce the district’s costs in light of declining enrollment, which is hitting hardest at the elementary school.

"It’s good business management of taxpayer funds and responsible management of our facilities," Hulse said.

The primary savings would come if the board could eliminate the need to install a two-stop elevator, a $210,000 expense currently included in a capital project that is still under discussion.

In the past four years, the number of students in the elementary school has decreased from 480 students in 2002 to 418 students in 2006.

McPhail said the current average class size is 17 students, down from an average of 22 when she first joined the district. She said the state computed pupil/teacher ratio was 10.8 students per teacher, a figure which counts all teachers in the building, including physical education, art, music special education and remedial teachers.

Although the enrollment has decreased, McPhail said all of the rooms in the elementary school are in use.

McPhail said there are eight regular-sized classrooms, bathrooms and a small storage room that was converted to office space on the second floor. Seven are used as classrooms and the eighth is used for academic intervention services.

On the first floor, McPhail said that five rooms are not used as classrooms. Two rooms are occupied only part of the day for vocal music instruction and French class, one room is rented to Head Start for $3,800 per year, one room is used for physical therapy and the fifth room is used as a resource room all day.

Although those rooms could be freed up, closing down the second floor would still require changes to be made, she said.

"Eight classrooms can’t be eliminated unless you increase class sizes," McPhail said during the committee meeting.

She said closing the second floor would likely result in some savings in heating fuel and electricity costs. She said there would also be "staff implications" and it would have an "impact on class size and it would have an impact on programming."

Committee members Sue Mulligan, Kelly Branigan and chairwoman Jean Schifano talked with McPhail and business manager Jim Collison at the meeting about what information would be needed before moving forward with the discussion.

The primary question was whether or not the board could remove the elevator expense from the capital project if the second floor was closed.

They also had questions about certificates of occupancy and whether the elementary school’s needs could be met by the bottom floor alone.

McPhail said the discussion was still very preliminary and that the committee had sent their questions to the school’s engineer.

She said they also want to have input from the PTO, community members and other interested groups to see if this was something the community would support.

Hulse said the Concerned Citizens hope to see the district reduce spending and seriously consider the group’s proposal, which will cut costs without impacting the school’s ability to educate its students.

"It’s our hope ... that the responsible decision will be made to efficiently use our facilities and save money every chance we get," he said. "We don’t think the suggestions we’ve made about the physical plant and budget impact the educational product whatsoever."