The Marion County School Board voted unanimously to consolidate Wyomina Park Elementary School beginning in fall 2027.
The decision comes more than a month after the board delayed a vote following public outcry from parents, teachers and students.
Wyomina Park will be the first school affected by Marion County Public Schools’ Future-Focused Operations Plan, which aims to reduce the number of elementary campuses, modernize aging facilities and lower maintenance costs.
The proposed consolidation drew strong pushback from the Wyomina Park community. At an August board meeting, teachers, parents and guardians urged the board to keep the school open, saying the campus provides important support for students facing economic and family challenges.
The board initially delayed the decision to hear more from the community. But at its latest meeting, members voted to move forward with the consolidation.
The district said the decision is not driven by declining enrollment. Instead, the Wyomina Park campus will be repurposed for Bridgeway Academy, the district’s alternative learning program.
About 400 Wyomina Park students are expected to be rezoned to Oakcrest Elementary. The rezoning plan still requires a separate vote from the school board.
District 4 board member Nancy Thrower said adults now have a responsibility to help students through the transition.
"It's going to be up to all of us as adults to emulate for our children how change is managed, how the grown-ups work together to manage change, and to reassure kids that they're going to be just as much a part of the fabric of a new school community,” she said. “And it's details like this that help soften the blow of change and also provide a real opportunity in real life and in real time.”
The district said staff will be reassigned to other schools.
Wyomina Park is just one of four schools included in the district’s facilities plan. By 2029, Reddick-Collier, Sparr and Anthony elementary schools are also set to close or consolidate. Under the approved plan, those three schools will merge into a new north-end elementary school.
“Once the decision is made, then the work begins,” she said. “Everybody's going to be experiencing challenges, and a lot of us are going to be feeling loss over this.”
The district estimates the overall facilities plan could save about $150 million in maintenance costs, along with another $2 million annually in operating expenses. Officials said the plan is intended to shift the district away from costly reactive repairs and toward long-term facility planning.
While Wyomina Park will no longer operate as an elementary school in its current form, board members say the school's name will remain on the campus.
The district still needs to finalize rezoning plans and bring them back to the board for approval ahead of the 2027-28 school year.
