WINDHAM – The Windham-Raymond Regional School Unit 14 School Board decided Wednesday night to move forward with a series of upcoming public forums to solicit input on a number of proposals which would close Jordan Small Middle School in Raymond.

The public hearings start at 6:30 p.m. the next two Wednesdays, Nov. 10 and 17. Nov. 10’s hearing will be held at Raymond Elementary School while Nov. 17’s location is to be determined.

According to a 32-page report available on the school district’s website, there were six options, most of which involve closing Jordan Small Middle School in Raymond, which could save the district an estimated $600,000 to 800,000 over five years. A committee made up of 15 to 20 parents and school board members began discussing the school closure option beginning in March of this year as a way to decrease expenses.

The school closure is possible, said board Chairman Mike Duffy, because Raymond’s two schools – Raymond Elementary School and Jordan Small Middle School – are both operating at half capacity. Raymond Elementary has 230 kids with a capacity of 480. Jordan Small, which can handle 450 students, currently has 200 students, Duffy said.

The department’s schools in Windham have 2,800 students. Each of the five schools is at full capacity, Duffy said.

There are several options that will be discussed at the upcoming forums. The school board decided Wednesday night to “slow down the process,” according to Superintendent Sandy Prince, and any school closings wouldn’t take effect until September 2012, he said.

One of the options called for closing Manchester Elementary School in North Windham, which the board rejected Wednesday night. Duffy, who said he is eager to hear parents’ opinions on the matter, said closing a Raymond school makes better sense due to busing arrangements. Busing kids from Windham to Raymond would cost more than closing one Raymond school and combining grades K-8 into Raymond Elementary School, which is the more recently built of the two schools.

The wide range of options brought forth by the school board for parents’ consideration also include an option moving Raymond’s seventh and eighth graders to Windham Middle School. Doing so would require the middle school to buy portable classrooms, however, Duffy said.

Duffy also said Raymond’s student population is expected to decrease over the next 10 years while Windham’s is expected to stay the same.

“We want to hear from the public. Obviously, we don’t feel cutting teachers is the answer to a budget shortfall,” Duffy said.

Longtime school board member Kate Brix is also looking forward to the added public input and acknowledges the closing will be an hotly debated topic.

“It’s always a very emotional issue when you start talking about school idling,” Brix said. “People consider the school the hub of the community.”