LEMON GROVE TO CLOSE PALM MIDDLE SCHOOL

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By Miriam Raftery

January 24, 2012 (Lemon Grove) – Trustees in the Lemon Grove School District voted unanimously tonight to close down Palm Middle School after the spring semester. The wrenching decision came in response to repeated budget cuts, which have cost the district $10 million in the past four years.

With $2.4 million to $4.5 million in new cuts anticipated, closing the school will save an estimated $350,000—but still leave a significant shortfall to make up.

The district plans to find a new purpose for the campus. Suggestions proposed include converting it to a charter school, creating a regional hub for special education, or a kitchen for the district’s nutrition services.

The district has also had declining enrollment. Trustees noted that since Lemon Grove Middle School had a temporary closure in 2010, the community has already learned that it can manage with just one middle school.

Some parents objected to the closure, calling for shut-down of an elementary school instead. But trustees concluded that closure of the middle school, which has just 590 students, would impact the least number of pupils.
 


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