HELENA — The Helena Public Schools Board of Trustees voted to close Hawthorne Elementary School on Tuesday.
The vote came just hours after students and staff left for the last day of school, not knowing where they would be going to school next year.
The question remains - what will their next fall look like?
(Hear from Helena Schools staff and students about the closure of Hawthorne Elementary)
"It's an all-summer work," said Helena Public Schools Superintendent Rex Weltz. "You may get the majority of our students in a position where they are comfortable with what their new school may look like, but we also provide the opportunity if it doesn't work for you; tell us what might work. We're really trying to place students where it best fits their needs."
Weltz says that placing students and staff for the 2025 to 2026 school year began on Wednesday, the day following the vote to close the school.
Weltz says the district could not start making transitional plans for Hawthorne Elementary School until they had a final vote from the board.
The district is confined to what actions they can take by Policy 9150, which requires that the board of trustees wait 90 days before deciding on a school closure after the superintendent recommends it.
Weltz says he is looking to recommend reviewing the policy to possibly shorten its timeline.
"I would have liked to been able to tell our parents where their kids were going to go before that last day," he said. "We really tried to make that decision right during the transmittal of the legislative session to see if there was money coming at us, and it didn't look like there was going to be some sort of increase in revenue other than the STARS [Act] and that wasn't operational."
Weltz says there is no hard deadline for a teacher or staff member to remove their things, but some started doing it on Wednesday.
"Teachers are boxing those up - taking their classrooms and putting them in boxes, leaving them there, and marking them where they know they're going to go," he said. "The facilities and maintenance teams will deposit or drop them off in their classrooms correspondently."
As we previously reported, the district will save nearly $1,000,000 by closing the school, and Weltz says staff salaries and benefits drive the majority of that.
"That's where it's really frustrating and concerning for our district and the superintendent, like myself and my team, is that we're still in a mode of reducing our budget by reducing staff members that are good for kids," he said.
While there have been talks of the closure of Hawthorne paving the way for bringing back district programs like music and PE to what they once were, Weltz says there are no promises.
"I can't guarantee that – that's one of our hopes and dreams," he said.
As for the future of the building itself, Weltz says he will be working with the district's realtor to try and find someone to lease it that will benefit the surrounding community and the district as a whole.
On Wednesday, Hawthorne Elementary School held a celebration where staff, students, parents, and alumns got together to honor the nearly 150-year-old school.
Soon-to-be high school senior and Hawthorne alumni Megan Abelin said, "I think since the class sizes were so small, it was much easier to know everyone and get to know other people and make friends."
The closeness of the school is something seven-year-olds and now former Hawthorne students Tasha and Teagan relate to.
They will now both be going to second grade at Central Elementary School.
"In these small schools, you know everybody, but in the big schools, a lot of people are strangers," Tasha said.
I asked the two friends what they thought about the school closing.
"I kind of knew it was going to close, but I still had hope," said Tasha.
The celebration honoring the school is a time for staff, parents, and students to say goodbye and remember what made it a special place for them.
Tasha said, "It was a great school."
"Yeah, it was really fun," said Teagan.
"It's fun," said Tay, another now-former Hawthorne student. "I made friends, and I really liked it."
