Stillwater school leaders will not close or try to sell school buildings until legal challenges of the decision to shutter three elementary schools are resolved.
With a 4-2 vote Thursday, board members approved what they described as “an amended stay” of decisions related to Superintendent Denise Pontrelli’s “Building Opportunities to Learn and Discover,” or BOLD, plan.
This means school leaders will be able to move forward with things like redrawing school boundaries but will not do anything that affects the students in the schools slated for closure until the legal challenges are settled.
The BOLD proposal, which was approved by the board in March, calls for the closure of the Withrow, Marine and Oak Park elementary schools.
District leaders say the move will save the district about $1.3 million a year and allow the district to use resources more equitably and efficiently. Pontrelli says smaller schools now have limited access to some resources and bigger schools struggle with large class sizes.
Opponents of the closures have rejected the realignment plan and don’t believe the cost-saving projections. They say closing their beloved schools will be devastating to their communities and drive students to other options.
Opponents have filed three legal challenges, alleging district leaders did not follow the school closure process correctly, misled parents during a 2015 capital levy campaign, and had conflicts of interest that were not disclosed.
District leaders have repeatedly denied those claims, saying they followed all rules and disclosed any conflicts. The first court hearing is scheduled for June.
In other action Thursday, the board rejected a proposal from a group of residents to merge the Stillwater and neighboring Mahtomedi districts to save money.
Leaders of both districts have said they are not interested in merging, and state leaders say backing from some local school officials would be needed to put the idea to a vote of residents.