July 25, 2023 |
Photo – Elk Mountain Elementary Logo – Courtesy CCSD#2 webpage
Carbon County school officials are hopeful that students will enroll at the Elk Mountain School in the future. Even one student will save the school from being permanently shut down.
As reported by Bigfoot99, last Tuesday, July 18th, District #2 officials met at the Elk Mountain School to discuss the future of the building. CCDS #2 Superintendent Darrin Jennings said the school has zero students enrolled for the 2023 through 2024 school year. Jennings said Elk Mountain has school age children in town, but their parents choose to have them attend the larger school in Hanna.
Last Tuesday, Jennings held a public meeting at the Elk Mountain School, located at 202 Veterans Street, to solicit community input on what the vacant school should be used for. Jennings said the building will be used by the school when winter prevents Elk Mountain children from making it to Hanna. The school superintendent said when not being used by the district, the town may hold events in the empty school.
Unconfirmed sources told Bigfoot99 that after the school is shuttered, Elk Mountain officials plan to repurpose the building for town use, such as town hall meetings or a senior center. Jennings said the town has never been barred from using the school for activities. However, the school superintendent said the building would need to have no students for three years before the district was required to permanently close the doors.
Jennings said last year, the Elk Mountain School had a very small class. He said having a single enrolled student would be enough to keep the school from closing.
Jennings said he isn’t ready to make any decisions about the fate of the Elk Mountain School at this time. For now, Jennings said, Carbon County School District #2 will keep the building open for emergencies and hope for more students in the future.
