PORT ANGELES — The School Board voted unanimously Monday night to set the wheels in motion to shutter the Port Angeles School District’s easternmost school next June.

Fairview Elementary School, 166 Lake Farm Road, is targeted for closure because of declining enrollments districtwide that have forced deep budget cuts.

The school closure and grade realignment plan adopted by the School Board also calls for combining the district’s two middle schools into the Stevens Middle School campus, 1139 W. 14th St.

What is now Roosevelt Middle School, 106 Monroe Road, will become the district’s largest elementary school.

In addition, the plan calls for realigning the elementary grades to a kindergarten through sixth grade structure — it’s now a kindergarten through fifth arrangement — and for some students at Franklin Elementary School, 2505 S. Washington St., to move to Roosevelt.

The School Board chose the plan over five others at a Monday night meeting at the Port Angeles Senior Center, chosen for its larger audience capacity.

Fairview Principal Doug Hayman attended Monday night’s meeting, but declined to comment on the board’s decision.

The closure and grade realignment will save the district an estimated $750,000, offsetting an expected decline in revenue from shrinking enrollment.

The district expects to lose 370 students over the next four years, which translates into $1.8 million less in state and federal funds.

By the 2007-08 school year, a minimum of $550,000 must be saved to compensate for an expected loss of about 100 students, according to district officials.

Part of the savings will come from eliminating one middle school principal position, one assistant principal, five teachers, three secretaries, two custodians and a part-time middle school sports position.

“The district has to save money,” said Mert Thorton, a former School Board member, retired elementary teacher and principal who served in the district for 34 years.

“Sometimes we just have to bite the bullet.”

“I know that our best interests are at heart,” said Port Angeles High School student Kelsey McCrorie, who is the board’s student representative.

“So I support any decision the board makes.”

More hearings scheduled

The School Board’s decision Monday night is preliminary and won’t be finalized until after two public hearings are held to discuss the closure of Fairview Elementary and Roosevelt Middle School.

Although Roosevelt won’t be mothballed like Fairview, the district is required to treat it as a school closure, Schools Superintendent Gary Cohn said.

The public hearings are set for Oct. 12 at Stevens Middle School and Oct. 17 at Roosevelt Middle School.

After the hearings, the School Board will make its final decision at its Nov. 27 meeting.