The Bethel School District in Eugene says it will close Shasta Middle School in June.
Shasta is one of four options for middle schoolers in the district. It currently has around 250 students.
At a meeting Monday, the district's school board decided to shutter the building after this school year ends, in order to help address a $1.8 million structural shortfall.
Bethel Superintendent Kraig Sproles told KLCC the district is struggling with rising costs and declining enrollment, as fewer young families can find housing in the neighborhood.
At the same time, Sproles said Shasta's building was built in the 1950s, so it requires more maintenance to remain open and heated. The district's other dedicated middle school, Cascade, was rebuilt and reopened last year.
"The facilities at Prairie, the facilities at Meadow View, and the facilities at Cascade are all much more modern," said Sproles. "Shasta is not.”
After the closure, Sproles said Shasta students will be reassigned to other schools based on their home addresses. But he said he wants to make it easier for families to get their students transferred if they'd prefer a different option.
Sproles said the closure won’t directly result in any layoffs, as staff from Shasta will be reassigned to other schools.
"People are worried that class sizes are just going to explode as we try to fit the Shasta students into these other buildings, but that's not actually the case," he said. "We're going to move teachers into spaces that aren't being used right now for classrooms to be able to accommodate those students."
Sproles said the closure will save $1.4 million each year in the short-term. He said the savings will grow as current staff leave, retire, or transfer somewhere else, and aren't replaced.
"We are closing a building, but we're doing that to preserve those relationships," said Sproles. "That's the heart and soul of Bethel: the teachers who pour their love into kids, and the kids who show up every day and the parents who surround our community."
Sproles said there could be still be layoffs due to larger economic factors, but those won't be targeted specifically at Shasta employees.
He said it wasn't yet clear what the district will do with the building, but he hopes to see it turn into a community center.
