A year after it was first announced, the decision of the district administration to close the Guiteras Elementary School was officially made official by the Bristol Warren Regional School Committee at its meeting on Monday, Nov. 18. The committee passed the item via a unanimous voice vote.

The body was actually asked by Superintendent Ana Riley to meet a requirement by the Rhode Island Department of Education to approve the central office's recommendation to shutter the Bristol building a year earlier than originally anticipated.

The move is being made as part of a larger reorganization plan Riley proposed leading up to the eventual voter approval of the $200 million school construction bond referendum at the 2023 election.

Then, citing declining enrollment throughout the district and with the need to update other buildings, Riley submitted a proposal to move all fifth grade students to the Kickemuit Middle School. She noted the current enrollment of all students in the district was just over 2,700 and was projected to decrease to about 2,450 by 2027.

Some $35 million of the bond is earmarked for the renovations to KMS as well as the district's three remaining elementary buildings. At KMS, two distinct floors are being created for fifth and sixth grades along with seventh and eighth. The bulk of the bond money, some $165 million, of course, is being used to construct a new Mt. Hope High School at the current Chestnut Street site.

This past Monday, the superintendent included a letter reviewing the plight of Guiteras in the November 18 meeting packet for committee members. It was available for public viewing on the night's agenda.

The letter began, "Upon close review and analysis of our plans to right-size our school district for both effectiveness and efficiency of services to our students, it is my recommendation that we move up our scheduled closure of Guiteras Elementary School to next year. RIDE requires a 6 month advanced notice of a school closure.

"The reasons for this are multiple. However the primary drivers in this recommendation are the budgetary costs of maintaining the building and the declining enrollment at the school.

"We continue to have facility issues, such as flooding and subsequent water damage in the basement of the school last week. These repairs costs, when coupled with the regular maintenance costs of a building this old, are significant."

During the committee discussion Monday evening, Riley mentioned she was aware of ongoing talks about the closure, including those being held by the parents' task force formed to address the decision.

She added "there's already an empty feeling in the building" due to the rather small enrollment at the school currently.

The decision to close Guiteras at the end of the '24-25 term, instead of waiting another year, Riley continued, would give fourth graders a chance to meet some of their new mates at either of the two other Bristol elementary buildings, Rockwell and Colt Andrews, before heading off to KMS. It would also afford staff to begin to coordinate and collaborate with their peers.

Asked about the ability of Rockwell and Colt Andrews to absorb the additional students at each building, Riley said the former is tight, but the latter has space available. Colt Andrews will accept the majority of the dispersed pupils.

As for adhering to the RIDE elementary level classroom size cap of 24 pupils, Riley said that wouldn't be a problem because of the additional staff moving to Rockwell and Colt Andrews.

The superintendent's letter concluded, "More important is the number of students in a school building this size. We are projecting an enrollment of just 93 students at Guiteras next year (there are only 124 there now and the school once housed 300).

"In analyzing our space needs, and available classroom space at Colt Andrews and Rockwell, we are confident there are enough empty classrooms to accommodate all of these students at Colt Andrews and/or Rockwell next year."

"Lastly, and perhaps most meaningful, is that research shows bringing these students into a larger cohort of
classmates per grade level has both academic and social emotional benefits to the students. An additional benefit is the increased opportunity for educators to collaborate with peers regarding teaching and learning initiatives."

Committee Vice Chair Adam McGovern, who attended the school as did his children, said of the Guiteras closing, "It was a decision we've all been focused on. I can say personally it's something I've been focused on... I think it's something we're going to do here. I think it's something we all knew was happening when we decided to invest in every school other than Guiteras. So now that we're saying it, I just want to state that I'm confident in the decision."

McGovern continued, saying he felt the right questions were asked of the superintendent about the proposal, that a proper space plan was prepared to determine the impact on the two other schools and if the changes were feasible.

McGovern added, he was encouraged after hearing from Colt Andrews Principal Deborah Kearns, who said the building has previously fit a larger enrollment and has experience with multiple lunch and recess periods.

He also said the small number of students likely to be enrolled at Guiteras "was a little bit eye-opening for me that it made sense to move out."

After the voice vote, Committee Chair Nicky Piper added, "The motion passes not without a little sadness."

(Updated, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 9:15 a.m.) It was mentioned, as well, during Monday's conversation, the Bristol Warren Regional School District will transfer ownership of the Guiteras building back to the Town of Bristol as soon as possible.