MORGAN, Vt. (AP) – Town school leaders are hoping an unusual partnership with a recreation center can help save the 50-student E. Taylor Hatten school. Rising costs for a small number of students could force the town to close the school next year.

But the school board is exploring a novel way to keep the school open. Officials are considering forming a partnership with Indoor Recreation Orleans County, a new recreational facility in Derby.

Under the plan, Morgan elementary students would spend mornings at IROC, doing homework and enjoying clubs, and learning about computers in a state-of-the-art indoor facility.

Then they would spend the afternoon on academics at the school.

The students would wrap the school day at about 4 or 4:30 p.m. and be home at dinner – with homework all done and the evening free.

The cost this year will fall within the already approved Morgan school budget, and then drop in the next five years, when grants are expected to cover the IROC portion of the school day.

“By doing this, Morgan becomes the model school in the state of Vermont,” said IROC Executive Director Jim Davis.

“IROC has greater opportunities than we can afford to bring,” said School Director Robert Cargill. “It is hopefully going to be feasible.”

Davis has actively sought partnerships with schools. Active in youth hockey, he learned about Morgan’s particular dilemma through a hockey parent, Morgan board member Kelley Paul.

“That’s when he started brainstorming,” Cargill said.

The Morgan school day would be turned upside down from what we’ve come to expect: with athletics, homework assistance, and computer learning and clubs in the morning, core subjects in the afternoon.

Between 11 a.m. and noon, students would go to their school for core education, such as reading, social studies, science and math.

Students would round out the day later than usual, but the lack of homework would relieve busy parents from that task and ensure that all students have the time and support to practice what they learned the day before.

AP-ES-07-18-04 1605EDT