Merrimac Elementary School in Holbrook will not close amid budget cuts

In front of a standing room only crowd, the Sachem School Board announced that Merrimac Elementary School in Holbrook will not be closing after all. This decision comes after significant pressure from the community, who fought to keep the school open in the face of looming budget cuts.

The district had previously proposed closing Merrimac Elementary as part of an effort to address a $6.5 million budget deficit. However, during a school board meeting Wednesday evening, board members decided to keep the school open for now, resulting in a wave of relief and celebration from parents in attendance.

“There are hard decisions that have to be made, but summarily closing a school negatively affects all the kids in the school and the entire community,” said Jay Jones, president of the Merrimac PTA.

While the news was met with cheers, the district’s budget issues remain unresolved. Instead of closing a school, the district is considering other cuts to balance the budget. Proposed measures include eliminating three social worker positions and eight teaching jobs, cutting middle school late buses, eliminating girls’ gymnastics, and combining girls’ swimming programs across multiple schools due to low enrollment.

Despite these adjustments, school board members indicated that a school closure may still be inevitable in the future.

“I also don’t want the community to think that we are not closing a school. Because something’s got to give and everybody needs to be understanding of that,” said Meredith Volpe, a trustee on the Sachem School Board.

Parents expressed frustration over the school board’s decision last week to suspend a policy that requires community input before closing a school.

Tony Garcia, a Merrimac parent, voiced concerns about the timing of these discussions.

“You’re supposed to be worrying about the future. We shouldn’t be having this conversation now. We should have been having this conversation 8, 12 months ago,” he said.

In addition to potential school closures, the district is also considering changes to bus transportation limits, which would require a vote from the community. The proposed budget will be discussed later this month, with at least one proposal expected to exceed the state’s tax cap.