Views Mixed on Nesconset Elementary's Closing with School Back in Session

Opinions on the change in routines for Smithtown Central School District parents and students due to the closing of Nesconset Elementary seem to have changed now that school back in session. 

While Superintendent Anthony Annunziato was not in the district when the decision was made by the Board of Education to close the school, he said the transition for students and faculty has been smooth.

"The routines for elementary schools are not significantly different from building to building and should not present any additional challenges that come with changing schools," he said via email.

Financially, closing the building would save the district roughly , according to data compiled by the Citizen's Advisory Committee. also was involved in the decision to close the school.

While the district sees the move as a positive with minimal frustrations for parents, students and the district, that opinion is not shared with all locals.

"By not 'disrupting' more students now we have overcrowding at St James [Elementary] and class size problem at MP [Mills Pond Elementary]," wrote Patch reader . "Furthermore this 'soft transitioning' will disrupt some families anyway (from SJE to Dogwood) and will take too long to be effective."

Other Patch readers have commented on where the students were moved to, suggesting the redistricting process had flaws.

"If they wanted to free up space at Tackan for Nesconset students, they would have had to sent students across to Branch Brook from Branch Brook to Mt. Pleasant," wrote Patch reader .

The reader went on to write that school boundaries is an issue Annunziato needs to tackle.

"I believe the district will address the class size by breaking new sections at Mills Pond in the short term, but I do believe the new superintendent needs to tackle the issue long term by re-drawing the elementary boundaries as there is a lot of extra space at Accompsett Elementary,"  wrote.

Not all locals believe Nesconset Elementary will be closed permanently.

"It will re-open, just like Great Hollow did and the re-shuffling of the high schools," wrote Patch reader .

Patch reader  disagrees.

"It will re-open, just like Great Hollow did and the re-shuffling of the high schools," wrote .

Annunziato said the district is still looking into options on how the closed building could generate revenue for the district.

"The district is currently working with a real estate agent to rent the building in order to generate revenue," he said. "It is our goal to  supplement the savings from the closing of Nesconset Elementary by finding viable renters."