School Board holding off on Ackerson Building closure vote

As a result of school budget problems, last winter the school board appointed a committee to study how to shrink Manchester Community School costs. The committee, composed of teachers, support staff, parents, students, community members and administrators, held their first meeting Jan 26, 2016. They met multiple times and by March decided on recommending the closing of the Nellie Ackerson building, currently housing the school district’s pre-K education programs as well as its central offices, in addition to the Co-op Preschool and the Community Resource Center.

In April, the committee presented their recommendation to the board during the monthly meeting but the board was not able to come to a decision at that meeting or the May meeting. After no decision was reached at the June meeting, Superintendent Vannatter stated that the decision has been tabled until next fall. “We will look at our situation and numbers again at that time,” she stated, “No programs are scheduled to move this summer.”

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.