GARNETT — In a 4-3 vote, USD 365 school board members decided Jan. 13 to close Greeley Elementary School, the Anderson County Review reported.
The vote came after a Jan. 8 contentious public hearing, where board members were accused of having already made up their minds to shutter the school despite public comments to the contrary, the Review said.
Board member Robert Shilling, Westphalia, said he spent time visiting with Greeley residents about the issue.
Shilling said the overriding sentiment was that their opinions were not valued, the Review reported.
The board’s decision sets in motion a plan outlined by Ryan Most, superintendent of schools, to close the school effective at the end of this school year, restaging the 43 students in Greeley to Garnett Elementary School.
Superintendent Most said that 51 percent of Greeley Elementary’s K-6 students currently live in Garnett.
The superintendent projected that continuing enrollment declines in USD 365 for the 2026-2027 school year will result in a districtwide loss of $242,000 in state aid.
That decline compared with an estimate of $1 million in annual expenses to operate the Greeley facility, the Review reported.
No immediate staff layoffs are expected, the superintendent said, though he expected staff attrition to winnow the former Greeley payroll over the next two to three years.
