Gunther Elementary School set to close

Parents of children in Gunther Elementary School’s class of 2013 gathered on Wednesday after the announcement that their school would likely close at the end of this school year. Anger and sadness resonated through the group. Parents said they were particularly upset that their children would lose the chance to graduate with their lifelong friends from the school where they grew up.

North Bellmore School District’s Committee to Explore Educational Options came to the decision to recommend closing Gunther School during a public meeting at Saw Mill Road School on Wednesday evening. Following a discussion about which of the six elementary schools made the most sense to close, the 21-member committee put the decision up for a vote. Twelve members voted to close Gunther.

North Bellmore school officials have said it’s necessary to close a school in order to meet the requirements of a state-mandated 2 property-tax levy cap, which will take effect in the 2012-13 school year.

The North Bellmore School District has five buildings in North Bellmore and one in North Merrick –– Park Avenue Elementary School. The committee will present its findings to the Board of Education in the coming weeks. Superintendent Arnold Goldstein stressed that the final decision would be up to the Board of Education

The board will host a public hearing for parents and community members to voice their concerns, which will likely take place in early December, at which time the board will render a decision.

Goldstein began Wednesday’s meeting by addressing the roughly 300 community members present. “Nobody wants to close a building,” he said. But the committee voted 19-1 at its October meeting to shut down a school.

Dinkelmeyer Principal Faith Skelos said at the time that the five schools that remained open would maintain student populations at 85 percent of their capacities to ensure that each would have enough room to accommodate new students to the district, should the student population surge.