At Naples Elementary, little optimism over school”s survival

If the students at Naples Elementary have any idea that their school is going to be closed, they are doing a better job hiding it than the teachers.

While the students were at recess Wednesday, jumping rope on the basketball court and playing tackle football in the field, a group of teachers huddled in the hallway.

They talked in hushed voices. They looked worried, tired and worn down.

Naples has been on the chopping block many times. The community has always come through, eventually passing a levy – or a lowered levy – on the second or third try. This time, the school district promised voters they would only attempt the levy once.

After it took two attempts to pass a $985,000 supplemental levy in 2004, the district put together a restructuring committee. Staunch opponents and some of the most enthusiastic boosters were invited to participate. They spent nearly a year looking at all aspects of the district’s finances.

In the end, voters rejected the $800,000 levy proposal that came out of that committee, even though it was lower than the expiring levy and the district had forewarned of drastic cuts.

For Naples Elementary, it seems the threat of closure wasn’t hollow. Even Jim Adamson, a Naples teacher for 23 years, has little optimism this time. Each of the district’s proposals to trim the budget calls for closing Naples.

Mount Hall and Evergreen elementaries may also be closed, depending on which proposal the school board accepts.

Adamson has his own budget proposal, which would spare the outlying schools and cut funding for sports and activities in half – not eliminate them entirely. He’s hoping the school board is receptive.

For Adamson and others, Naples is a true neighborhood school. Parents, students and teachers consider themselves part of one big family. Adamson gives students rides home from school. He’s teaching the children of his former students.

“It’s a small, intimate school where we don’t let things slide,” he said.

The school’s parent group conducted a survey. More than half of the parents said they’d either move their students to Bonner County schools or home-school if Naples closes. Some argue the loss of per-pupil spending from the state would put Boundary County Schools in a worse position than if they kept the school open.

Liz Wood plans to home-school if it comes down to that.

“Whenever they do studies on how children learn best, the studies say ‘small schools, close to home,’ ” Wood said.