WESTBROOK – The Westbrook School Department is planning to host a third forum discussing the ongoing budget process, Thursday, Feb. 9, at 6:30p.m. at the middle school, while the School Committee is getting ready to make a preliminary decision on whether to close Prides Corner School.

The suggestion of closing the school, along with a reconfiguration of the elementary education system in the city, has been front and center during previous public discussions on the district’s 2012-2013 budget.

School Superintendent Marc Gousse said he is asking the committee to take a preliminary, first-reading vote on whether to close the school at its next meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 8.

“We have to get that on the table,” he said.

Even if the committee votes in favor of closing the school, Gousse stressed that “it’s not a done deal.”

Goussse said that the committee would have to wait at least another month to take a second-reading vote before making it official.

That gives Gousse and the committee plenty of time to get more feedback from the public. Gousse has scheduled Thursday’s public forum to discuss the issue.

He said the district will also be putting plans on display showing how schools would be reconfigured to have all elementary schools in the city teaching K-4, and the middle school teaching grades 5-8. Gousse said maps showing reconfigured bus routes would also be displayed.