RUMFORD – The SAD 43 Board of Directors voted Tuesday to reconfigure grades kindergarten to five.

As dictated by the decision, 50-year-old Virginia Elementary School will no longer be used as a school, but rather as a day-treatment center for children with special needs.

Only three members of the 12-member board voted against the reconfiguration, with one board member out due to illness.

The vote means that the 110 students who currently attend Virginia school will go to Rumford or Meroby schools beginning next school year. Each of those schools presently has approximately 250 students.

Faced with declining school population and rising costs, SAD 43 had a difficult decision that is in front of more and more school districts in the state. According to figures presented by Superintendent Jim Hodgkin, the reconfiguration will save the district at least $125,000 annually in salaries and transportation costs. That figure includes eliminating a custodian, a special education teacher and an education technician.

The meeting was held at the Mountain Valley High School library where more than 50 parents and community members came to show their support for keeping Virginia school open. Several parents stood before the board to present their case. Said one parent, “you couldn’t ask for better teachers; you couldn’t ask for a better school.”

When the vote was finally taken, only Peter Zanoni of Mexico and Chris Dickson and Tracey Higley of Rumford raised their hands in opposition to the reconfiguration, accounting for the weighted total of 662 for, and only 264 against.

Even if the vote had gone the other way, Hodgkin said that the issue would probably have to be revisited in the future. He explained that several board members felt that had the reconfiguration been turned down, a timetable would need to be set up for it to be looked at again in the coming years.

At the end of the meeting, Chairman Linda Westleigh took a moment to assure parents and others that the SAD 43 board had looked very carefully at the issues associated with reconfiguration.

“This was a vote that was not taken lightly at all,” she said. “This will be a big change. We have great teachers and a great administration that will do their best to make this change as easy as possible.”

Westleigh added that guidance counselors would be available for Virginia school students should any need help adjusting to the idea of going to a different school.

Immediately following the vote on reconfiguration, the board voted to designate Virginia school as a day-treatment education center. The center will reportedly serve 26 students.

In other business, the board approved a February trip to Spain for some seniors. The trip will allow students who have been studying Spanish for several years to be totally immersed in Spanish language and culture.

The board also approved a request by transportation Director Tim Gallant to apply for two separate state bonds that could be used to pay for costly upgrades to several school buildings.

One of the bonds is made available by the Revolving Renovation Funds program and involves a 40 percent forgiveness of the total borrowed. If won, the district does not have to accept the money the bonds would provide but, according to Gallant, that money would allow the district to fund needed improvements much more quickly than is currently possible.

Gallant said that a reply to the application should be received by April or May.