The Carroll County (Md.) school board has voted to close three schools at the end of the 2015-16 school year, an action projected to save about $5 million a year.
WMAR-TV reports that despite the pleas of manY constituents, board members voted 4 to 1 to approve Superintendent Stephen Guthrie's recommendation. The campuses that will close: Charles Carroll Elementary, New Windsor Middle and North Carroll High Schools. The closures also will result in redrawn attendance boundaries at 11 other district schools.
In calling for the school closings, Guthrie noted that enrollment in the school system has declined by more than 11 percent in the last decade--from 28,940 in 2005 to 25,558 in 2015. That has led to a drop in state funding since 2009 of $8.5 million year. Enrollment projections say that student numbers will decline by another 2,265 in the next nine years.
Video from WMAR-TV:
