VANDALIA — The Vandalia-Butler School District is considering budget cuts that could permanently close Smith Intermediate School.
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Under the proposed reconfiguration plan, students currently attending the building would be reassigned to other schools within the district.
The proposed closure comes as district officials grapple with long-standing financial challenges.
According to information posted on the district website, Vandalia-Butler City Schools have not seen consistent revenue in more than a decade and remain among the lowest-funded school districts at the state level in Ohio.
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If approved, the reconfiguration plan would reassign third through sixth grade students to Morton Middle School.
Students in seventh through 12th grades would attend Butler High School.
Parents waiting to pick up students outside Smith Intermediate School expressed mixed reactions, with some worrying about younger students being housed in the same building as high schoolers.
Trish Reece, a parent in the district, said she believes the district can successfully manage having different grade levels in shared spaces.
“I don’t think it could be a bad thing,” Reece said. “I mean, it’s kind of like a couple years ago when they did Smith here. They had the third graders come with the fifth graders. So, you know, they’re in separate parts of the building, and I think it worked out.”
District officials were contacted for an interview but did not make anyone available.
The Vandalia-Butler Board of Education is expected to vote on the proposed reconfiguration plan on Nov. 17.
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