Southland School Board members tonight will consider the closure of the Southland Elementary School at Rose Creek, according to the board’s agenda.

The group will meet at 6:30 p.m. in the school media center. Superintendent Jeff Sampson, under the direction of the board, will bring information about the impact of closing the school, and accompanying financial information.

The item is the last on the board’s agenda, with the notation, “Closing elementary school information and possible action.”

It is not a new topic of discussion for the board, or in the community.

The closing of the building, whose main structure was built in 1920, was part of a $24.5 million referendum that failed at the polls last June. That project would have renovated the Adams High School and middle school and closed the elementary school. Closing the elementary would largely eliminate costs for renovations also needed there; officials calculated that some $4 million in maintenance had been deferred.

Superintendent of Schools Jeff Sampson, who could not be reached for this article, said in June that despite the failure of the referendum, “The needs are still there.”

Declining enrollments mean fewer funds for the district. In the last school year, 438 students were served on site, reflecting a decline that has deepened each year over the last 10. In 2008-2009, Southland served almost 150 more students than it does today. Another option to increase funding would be to increase the district’s operating levy by $356 per pupil.

According to a financial report prepared in January, expenditures will outweigh revenues by almost a half a million dollars by the 2020-2021 school year.

Closing the elementary school in Rose Creek would save just over $510,000 in staff, transportation and operations, according to the report. Even if it did not close, it would have to have two positions eliminated next fall “with more to follow,” according to the report. There would be larger class sizes. It was estimated that in that same time frame, closing the school would keep the district out of statutory operating debt (SOD) with a positive fund balance of over $2 million.