An unusual daylight Oak Harbor School Board meeting Thursday was all about questions.

It was the first time that Superintendent Rick Schulte has publicly spoken to the school board members about the possibility of closing Clover Valley Elementary, but no decisions were made.

Schulte began the meeting by explaining the reasons for even considering the option. But the real purpose of the special meeting, he said, was to ask the board members what information they need to make the decision.

“We are not making a proposal,” he said. “We are not making a decision.”

The board members responded with a laundry list of questions and concerns that they want answered.

They wanted to know: What special programs would be affected; how much money would actually be saved; whether a temporary or permanent closure would be better; what the building will be used for; how much transportation will cost; what the public process will be like; whether a survey should be done; and whether it will lead to larger class sizes.

The board members made a point of telling the two dozen concerned people in the audience that the process of closing a school will be very public and that the community will get a chance to speak their minds.

“Know that this isn’t going to be done lightly…” board member Kathy Jones said. “You are going to be part of the process along the way and we have the children’s best interests in mind.”

One question that Schulte did answer was why he suggested that the school board make a decision in February. He explained that the process of closing the school, moving staff, and redrawing the boundary lines will take time so decisions have to be made “somewhat quickly.”

Schulte also explained where the idea of closing an elementary school came from. In part, it grew out of work being done by the school boundary committee.

“They discovered we have empty classrooms in every elementary school,” he said.

In addition, Schulte explained that the school district is facing a serious budget crisis in the future. The district will need to cut about $3 million to balance the budget for the 2007-2008 school year, mainly because of low enrollment and cuts in federal impact aid.

“It’s going to result in significant cuts pretty much across the board,” he said.

A school closure won’t completely solve the budget problem, he said, but it will “centralize most of the cuts.”

The district had to take $1.6 million from reserves to balance this year’s budget, but now there’s nothing left to dip into.

Schulte said he will try to provide the school board with answers to their questions at their Jan. 29 meeting.

You can reach News-Times reporter Jessie Stensland at jstensland@whidbeynews

times.com or call 675-6611.