The New York State Comptroller’s Office is recommending that the Tioga Central School District close one of its buildings.
The district only has two: an elementary school in Nichols and an all-ages building in Tioga.
An audit from the comptroller’s office found that the district would save $492,000 per year if it closed the Nichols building while still maintaining class sizes at an average of 21 students for kindergarten through grade 4.
The state recommends selling the school at its assessed value of $1.4 million.
Tioga Superintendent Scot Taylor says he thinks the district’s students benefit from keeping the Nichols school open. He cited challenges like overcrowding, additional bus routes and interaction between young and old students if all of them were under the same roof.
The audit also found that the district could save nearly $400,000 over five years by hiring a licensed speech pathologist to provide therapy services and their own occupational therapist instead of using a third-party provider.
