BETHEL — The Andover Elementary School got a one-year reprieve from closing Monday night in a close vote by the SAD 44 Board of Directors.

The Woodstock Elementary School will also remain open, but major cuts in its operation were approved.

In a roll call weighted vote with all but one of the 17 school board members in attendance, the vote was 551-418 to close the Andover school. To have approved the motion to close the Andover school, a weighted vote of 666, or two-thirds of the total, was required.

The vote to cut $120,000 from the operation of the Woodstock school was 10-6. The school has about 75 K-5 students.

Newry board member Debbie Webster was absent from the meeting at Telstar High School in Bethel.

Discussions on the possibility of closing the 30-pupil, K-5 Andover school have been ongoing for at least a couple of years. Closing would have saved the district about $215,000, officials estimated.

Board member Keith Smith of Andover, who voted for closure, said deciding to close a school was a difficult decision, but he had to balance both fiscal and educational responsibility, he said.

“During the past two years, we’ve stripped this district and increased taxes to residents. There aren’t a lot of small items left,” he said.

Bethel member Lynn Arizzi said that although she respected the pride Andover and Woodstock parents took in their community schools, the board must consider the district as a whole.

“We have good schools and good education for all students,” she said.

Andover board member Tim Akers, along with Bethel representative Roberta Taylor, argued for allowing the public to decide whether they wanted to present a budget that would include the costs for continuing the operation of the two schools.

Marcel Polak of Woodstock, who voted not to close the Andover school, blamed what he termed as tax avoidance policies by the federal and state governments for the district’s financial condition.

For $120,000 cut for the Woodstock school will mean combining the fourth- and fifth grades into one classroom, which will eliminate one teacher; cutting a special education technician and a library technician; and changing the principal position from half-time teaching to full-time teaching.

“We tried to limit the impact as much as possible,” Superintendent David Murphy said.

The district anticipates a $1.2 million budget gap for 2011-2012. With the decision to keep the Andover school open and a reduction in the operating costs at the Woodstock school, the district must still come up with more than $1 million in cuts as well as hikes in school taxes.

“Tonight is the beginning of the conversation about how much to pass to the taxpayers,” Murphy said.

A budget will be presented to voters in June.

Last year, the district eliminated nearly a dozen positions and made other substantial cuts, resulting in a $9.1 million operating budget. The district is also near the minimum amount of state aid it can receive.

The district includes the towns of Andover, Bethel, Greenwood, Newry and Woodstock.

[email protected]