Sorento Elementary to close at end of school year

SORENTO — Members of the Bond County Board of Education voted to close Sorento Elementary at the end of the 2021-22 school year on Wednesday, Jan. 19. The vote came following four public hearings about the school closure proposal. Beginning next school year, the school’s 100+ students will have to go to school at either of the district’s two remaining elementary schools. Those schools are in Greenville and Pocahontas. The decision was mostly due to unequal class sizes between the elementary schools. The board had originally floated the idea of changing its boundaries more than two years ago. Also in discussion was the closure of either Sorento or Pocahontas schools. The discussion was tabled when schools made the transition to remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Superintendent Wes Olson expects five certified positions will be cut with the closure. Sorento Elementary was a 2011 Blue Ribbon winner, the highest honor of the U.S. Department of Education. Following the closure, it is unknown what the district will do with the building.

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