Bloomingdale Elementary School set to close

BLOOMINGDALE | It's official. Bloomingdale Elementary School is set to close at the end of the school year. On Wednesday, Feb. 25, the Saranac Lake Central School District (SLCSD) Board of Education voted unanimously to close the building that had been a full K-5 elementary school until this year, when officials decided to shift older students to Petrova Elementary, leaving Bloomingdale as a K-2 building. At the end of the school year, the Bloomingdale Elementary School students will be moved to Petrova Elementary School, and the middle school currently housed within it will be moved to Saranac Lake High School, shifting it to a junior/senior high school model, housing grades 7 to 12. "Addressing this bitter reality is no simple task," said Nancy Bernstein, vice president of the SLCSD Board of Education, about this shift, which would ultimately save the district around $600,000 a year. "Board members are elected to make difficult decisions to ensure the best and most equitable education possible is provided to every student, while being mindful of the taxpayers who foot the bill. [...] Many districts have very successfully utilized this configuration and so will ours." Discussions started back in the late 2010s due to the rising cost of operating three school buildings and the steady decline in student enrollment, which dipped below 1,000 for the first time in decades this year. The district is also anticipating a 20% increase in health insurance premiums. Also, under a new state mandate that's set to go into effect in 2027, all new school buses purchased in New York must be zero-emission by 2027, and all school buses in operation must be electric by 2035. E-buses are not only more expensive than the district's current diesel buses, around $450,000 for an e-bus in comparison to a $150,000 diesel bus, but the district will also need to either update its current bus garage with charging infrastructure or build a new one. "Saranac Lake has the largest geographic bus district in the state. With declining enrollment, we don't have the same number of kids on our buses, and electric buses don't give us that same ability to cover our geographic distance that our current buses do," said SLCSD Board of Education President Mark Farmer in a previous interview. "We've done the study. We cannot keep Bloomingdale open and only run one bus district-wide." The district plans to keep the building and use it for other purposes, such as a bus garage, a daycare facility, or temporary housing for people relocating to the area for work. "There's no definitive answer as to what we're doing next with Bloomingdale, but what I can tell you is that the Board of Education has zero plans to sell it or let it fall into disrepair," Farmer said in a previous interview. "While we don't have that answer yet, we're doing all we can to be in a position to make good decisions for our students, staff, taxpayers, and community." This isn't the first time SLCSD has had to face a decision like this one either, as it has closed the Lake Colby Elementary School in 2011 and its Lake Clear School in 2009, both for the same reason — state regulations and mandates that make running a public school a very expensive endeavor, and declining student enrollment due to out-migration and high home prices. "This board has prioritized transparency, honesty, and integrity throughout this process," Bernstein said during the meeting. "Now I ask that members of the public, please trust that the board thoughtfully weighed every factor to come to the best and most responsible decision." Throughout this process, several locals have expressed their thoughts and concerns about this sensitive yet essential decision, and several have asked the Board of Education not to make a final decision at this time. However, the board did make a decision, and that decision will go into full effect by year's end. SLCSD Superintendent Diane Fox was not available to comment on this story before it went to print. "I fully recognize that this issue is deeply personal, [and] there is no doubt that the Bloomingdale community is experiencing a profound and painful loss," Bernstein said during the meeting. "But please, rest assured that faculty and staff made a loving school culture, not the building, [so] your children will be safe and nurtured, and they will receive an excellent education." For more information or updates, visit slcs.org.

Signup for our newsletter

Bloomingdale Elementary School set to close

COMPANY

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

SUBMISSION FORMS

BEYOND THE NEWS