Several Prudence Island residents say their grade-school children would have to take a 6:25 a.m. ferry across the Bay if the one-room schoolhouse is closed.
01:00 AM EST on Wednesday, March 9, 2005
PORTSMOUTH -- Four children attend Prudence Island's one-room schoolhouse. There is one first grader and three third graders.
The School Department estimates it will spend more than $160,000 this fiscal year to staff and maintain the school, according to a memo prepared by schools Supt. Timothy Ryan for last night's School Committee meeting.
"As we go into this budget we need to look at every single area," Ryan said last night. "This is not going to be an easy decision."
The School Committee last night did not make the decision -- whether or not to close the school -- but will before the end of the month.
Last night several Prudence Island residents braved near blizzard conditions to speak up for their one-room schoolhouse.
It was not a question of nostalgia for the residents, though they acknowledge the building may be the last one-room schoolhouse in the state and symbolizes more to residents than simply a place for their children to learn the three Rs.
The islanders attending last night's meeting said they did not want their young children having to take the 6:25 a.m. ferry across the Narragansett Bay alone five days a week, only to return at 4 p.m.
"If you put a bay between my child and his parents at ages 8, 9 or 10, I begin to get worried," said Eliza Volkmann, mother of two of the school's four children. "An 8-year-old is basically on his own."
But in two years just two children will attend the one-room schoolhouse, according to School Department projections.
Island resident Robert Marshall acknowledged last night that diminishing numbers may be a problem.
"We worry about that two number," he said. "We know what that's going to look like on paper."
But Marshall said the school went through something similar when his son was at the school. One year the school was down to four students and the following year there were 14.
All it takes is one or two new families, he said, and the numbers shoot up.
Marshall added that the School Department cost estimates for the school include some fixed costs that wouldn't disappear if the island school was closed.
Transportation costs, for example, account for $44,000 of the school's budget. Students would still need transportation off the island and busing from the Bristol ferry landing. Currently, about 10 middle and high school students make the trip off the island every day.
And approximately $13,000 pays for systemwide services, like a librarian and specialists who are employed at Melville Elementary school, but spend some time on the island.
Ryan said the School Committee had several options, including closing the school, or reviewing the issue year by year, based on updated enrollment projections.
Marshall said the islanders don't ask for much. The town provides virtually no services for the residents.
"This year Prudence Island is putting $970,000 into your school budget," Marshall said. "All we're asking for is our school back."
**Provided By The Providence Journal Bulletin