By Sue Kiesewetter
Enquirer contributor

MIDDLETOWN - Jefferson Elementary will close after classes dismiss in June and be torn down by the end of December.

The closing is expected to save the district $1.3 million over the next five years, including $400,000 the first year, said schools Treasurer Edmund Pokora.

"We first started talking about closing Jefferson four or five years ago because of its age,'' said Dr. Mark Frazer, president of the Middletown Board of Education. "We're focusing on our overall building needs. One year ago, we closed Oneida. We felt we needed an extra year to align everything before closing Jefferson."

Since Monroe split off to form its own district, enrollment has dropped from 7,705 students in October 2000 to 7,489 students this year, district records show. But even before the split, enrollment was decreasing, Pokora said, noting that enrollment was at 15,000 in 1970.

"Six of our 11 elementary schools have lost 20 percent or more over the last 10 years,'' Pokora said. "We're also seeing changing demographics. Our students are not near our buildings. They're moving east.''

The 310 students who will be displaced by Jefferson's closing will be reassigned to either Wildwood or Roosevelt elementary schools, depending on whether they live east or west of Nelbar/Ohio 4. The gifted and talented education program will move from Wildwood to McKinley.

About 100students from Roosevelt will also be reassigned to Wilson, and 24 students at Wilson who live in the Mayfield attendance area will go back to Mayfield.

The move eliminates five teaching, one administrative and two support positions. Pokora said most of those individuals would not lose their jobs because of offsetting retirements and resignations.

The closing ties in with a plan being studied that calls for: building a new high school for grades 9-12. renovating Middletown High for use as a middle school for grades 6-8 and a combination of renovating or building eight elementary schools. The price tag is $140-$145 million.

Frazer said the board will schedule several public meetings in March.The state would pay about 26 percent of projects approved by the Ohio School Facilities Commission.

E-mail suek@infi.net