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Mourning the end of Holland’s school

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Holland Principal Kelli Dean
Holland Elementary School Principal Kelli Dean praises the accomplishments of her staff and students. Photo by Joseph Gresser

by Joseph Gresser

 

HOLLAND — Staff at Holland Elementary School are just beginning to come to terms with their school closing at the end of June.  Town voters reluctantly decided, by a more than two to one margin, to shut the doors in order to keep the state from merging the Holland and Derby school districts into a new entity.

Their concern was the new district, which would have ownership of the Holland school building, could choose to sell the school and leave the town without a community space.

Holland Elementary was already looking at the possibility of closing down, although, without pressure from the state, the end might have been delayed for a year or more.

Principal Kelli Dean acknowledged that her school’s low enrollment, combined with the probable elimination of its small school grant, suggested that the end of the line was not far off.

Still, she said, the state might have allowed the town to preserve its dignity by allowing residents to close the school on their own terms.

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