The Dubuque (Iowa) district has proposed closing Hoover Elementary School at the end of the 2024-25 academic year.
The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reports that shuttering Hoover could save the district about $1 million per year in staffing costs.
The school board is scheduled to decide at a Feb. 10 meeting whether to approve the closing recommendation.
Superintendent Amy Hawkins says district leaders are proposing the closure both for financial reasons and also because of the school's declining enrollment.
Hoover's enrollment this fall was 292 students, a 23.0% decrease from the 379 students at the school in fall 2019. Among the district's elementary schools, Hoover's enrollment dropped by the largest percentage over those five years.
If Hoover were to close, it would mark the second Dubuque elementary school in three years to cease operations; the district closed Fulton Elementary School in 2022.
The vast majority of students would be reassigned to Irving, Kennedy and Table Mound elementary schools, Hawkins says.
