The South Portland School Department has proposed closing James O. Kaler Elementary School next school year to save money in a tight budget season. 

At a packed school board workshop Monday, district leadership proposed two money-saving options: one that would reconfigure the grades served by each of the remaining four elementary schools and another that would move students to different schools, but keep kindergarten through fourth grade under the same roof at each one.

The school board has not decided which option it will pursue, nor has it voted on whether to close a school. 

If the board decides to close Kaler, no further staff reductions will be needed in an already painful budget season, according to Assistant Principal Johanna Prince.  

About 50 department employees were notified last week that their positions would be eliminated. 

If the school board chooses reconfiguration by grade level, Helena H. Dyer Elementary School and Dora L. Small Elementary would serve pre-kindergarten through first grade and Frank I. Brown Elementary and Waldo T. Skillin Elementary School would be for second through fourth grades, relocating hundreds of students. 

With the restructuring, the district estimates having capacity for 232 students at Dyer, 240 at Small, 248 at Brown and 384 at Skillin. There are 197 students at Dyer, 190 at Small, 201 at Brown, 310 at Skillin and 182 at Kaler this school year. 

This option encourages more grade-level collaboration and teacher support, and allows all schools to reflect the demographics of the district, said Bethany Connolly, principal of Skillin. 

But it would also force the district and families to get used to new schedules and schools, Prince said. 

She said it’s possible to implement a change before the next school year, though the administration would need to spend significant time and planning on logistics and communicating with the community. 

If the school board chooses to redistrict the four remaining elementary schools for the coming school year, the school system could work toward grade-level reconfiguration for the following year. 

If students are redistricted to the remaining four elementary schools, Small and Brown, which have pre-kindergarten classes, would have 256 and 248 students respectively. Dyer would have 216 and Skillin would have 384, surpassing its building capacity. 

While that option minimizes disruptions for students and families, it is not the most efficient and does not necessarily create more diverse classrooms. 

“If we maintain current boundaries with a school at the center of the community, we will always have a disparity between the populations in our schools,” Prince said. 

Class sizes would increase for all grade levels under both scenarios, and staff would have to move schools, Prince said. Exact estimates will become available as the plan gets underway. 

The school department did not recommend decommissioning Kaler if it is closed. The district can lease the vacant building for up to four years before deciding to extend that time period or decommission, which could generate revenue. 

The department initially favored closing Skillin, partially because it has the most expensive facilities needs, but school board members decided they could not close the city’s most diverse elementary school. 

The district proposed closing Dyer and making the remaining four schools either pre-kindergarten or kindergarten through fourth grade at its meeting two weeks ago. 

Closing either Dyer or Kaler would result in similar savings, according to initial research presented at a budget workshop earlier this month. 

Reconfiguring the four other schools would save the district $3.1 million for this year’s budget and $16.4 million over the next five years. Closing either of these schools and redistricting would save $2.1 million this year and $12.8 in the next five years.

Some community members said it would be better to disrupt students once and choose a more equitable option than to continue to delay, but some parents at the meeting said the process was rushed and pitted elementary school communities against each other. 

Kate Hurd, a Kaler parent, said many people in the community had no idea their school was on the chopping block until the presentation was posted on the school department’s website three days before the meeting. 

“I’m here to stand for the Kaler community,” she said. 

Some parents expressed concern about closing the district’s second most diverse school. More than 50% of the students qualify for free and reduced lunch, more than 50% are Black, Indigenous or other people of color, and 30% to 35% are multilingual learners. 

The school board will continue to discuss the budget at its workshop next Monday.