The West Babylon Union Free School District is considering a plan that could close one of its five UPK-5 schools to cut back on costs.

The proposal presented at last night's Board of Education meeting would move students out of Forest Avenue Elementary School.

The district said it is facing declining enrollment, state aid uncertainties and rising costs for student services.

"That decline we’ve continued to see and the data has supported that throughout the last 13 years," West Babylon Superintendent of Schools Yiendhy Farrelly said at Tuesday night's board meeting.

On June 4, 2024, the board met with the superintendent of schools and established a Long Range Planning Committee to look over several possible options to save the district money while maintaining high educational standards.

According to the district, West Babylon schools have seen a significant decline in enrollment of roughly 761 students over the last 15 years while maintaining the same number of school buildings.

The district projects enrollment will continue to decline over the next five years.

The study, presented at Tuesday's meeting, suggested closing Forest Avenue because it's the smallest of the three UPK-5 schools north of Sunrise Highway with only 17 classrooms and concerns over transportation costs because of the building's location.

If approved, the district would either move forward with four independent elementary schools or shift to the Princeton Plan, which would group students in school buildings by grade rather than proximity to where they live.

The study presented an option for the Board of Education to generate revenue for the district by renting out the building in the future. Consultants estimated the district could raise an additional $880,000 by renting out the entire building.

Some parents supported the efforts.

"We are in a hole that continues to deepen," one parent said at Tuesday's board meeting. "Closing a school provides the only way to sufficiently decrease spending as well as provide opportunities to generate much-needed revenue."

But most strongly opposed it and said it would cause a major disservice to the district's students.

"The kids are being looked at being looked at like they're a bunch of dollar signs.," Forest Avenue PTA President Alicia Demonte said. "If they close this building and the kids get shuffled around, you have a bunch of kids that wanted to school together for a bunch of years and now because of weird transportation maps they're shuffled all over the district and nobody cares about them."

"It's just completely inconvenient for I think all people in the community," another parent said.

School officials said they hope to decide by the board's next meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 28 to implement changes as early as this upcoming September.