HARTFORD, Ark.-Eleventh-grader Melanie Bryan will not get to graduate from the school she and half of her class have attended together since kindergarten.
"It is heartbreaking," she said, standing outside Hartford High School's gym Friday night.
It was the last homecoming Hartford will ever have-school officials announced this month that the Hartford schools, which had already consolidated with Hackett School District in 2014, will close their campuses for good at the end of this school year.
Combined, Hartford Elementary and Hartford High Schools have 228 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, Superintendent Eddie Ray said. The reason both schools are closing boils down to not enough students and not enough money.
"The cost to operate our district is exceeding the funding we receive from the state to operate," Ray said in an email. "This is due to declining enrollment that has occurred over a period of several years. Declining enrollment is projected to continue into the future as far as we can project. This means the negative balance will only become greater over time."
The Times Record reports that Melanie Bryan is one of 13 juniors at Hartford, about half of whom have attended since kindergarten, who will have to go to Hackett or one of the other nearby schools, such as Mansfield, for their senior year. She said it's a close group of friends.
"We're all going to have to split up," she said.
Hackett schools have 585 students in kindergarten through 12th grade. There is enough classroom space for all of the Hartford students to attend Hackett, although that will put Hackett at near capacity, Ray said.
There are 25 certified staff members and 21 classified staff members who work at Hartford. It is yet to be determined how many will be laid off, Ray said. Generally, a handful of staff members will likely retire, leave the profession for personal reasons or work for another school district.
"(Hartford closing) is devastating news to some families and good news to others. We have had a surprising number of parents of Hartford students asking us to move the school to the Hackett campus so their students could attend the Hackett campus schools," Ray said. "For some students, their bus ride to the Hackett campus will be shorter to a few minutes longer than it is now. For many, it will be a significantly longer bus ride. For those families, it is a real concern and I understand that as a parent. For many students, Hartford Schools are a part of their family heritage with many family members and multiple generations graduating from Hartford. For them, it is a painful change. We recognize that there are a variety of ways that this impacts some families in a way that it is upsetting. We are sorry for those changes, but they are not avoidable in most cases.
"On the other hand, we feel that our Hackett Schools are great schools and we are going to be able to utilize our district resources more toward students rather than trying to survive while depleting our savings we need for updating our bus fleet, security needs and building maintenance. We are increasing the capacity of our technology capabilities, we are creating a computer science program. We hope to have a drone program. We offer a Cadet Corps program, which is similar to ROTC that wasn't available at the Hartford campus. We also have volleyball at the Hackett campus for the girls that will be interested in that sport."
The school has been open since around 1891, Principal David Lee said.
Melanie Bryan is the youngest of six siblings. She will be the only one not to graduate from Hartford.
Her sister, Anna Bryan, who graduated in 2010, has a daughter in first grade at Hartford and another who she was planning to send to Hartford Elementary next year. They live in Huntington, and she has not decided what school they will be attending next year.
"I'm very concerned because of my work schedule," she said.
Besides working out the transportation issue, Anna Bryan said she is teaching her first-grader about making new friends at a new school. She would rather her daughter not have to start over at a new school at 6 years old.
The Hackett schools are about 15 miles away from the Hartford schools.
Driving into Hartford from Fort Smith, a sign reads, "POP 772." There are several homes, a few churches and a gas station on the way to Hartford High School.
"I think it'll end up dead. I mean, there's nothing left here," Hartford alumna Brandy Potter said.
Potter was the 1995 homecoming queen. She lives in Hackett now and came back to her alma mater for its final Homecoming.
Closing the school is projected to save a little more than $1 million, Ray said, although it is difficult to pinpoint exactly how much it will save. For example, although closing Hartford will mean no more utility bills for that campus, more students at the Hackett campus will somewhat increase utility costs there.
Ray said the school closing is a matter of efficiency.
"Our district student population by grade may require two teachers, but we are forced to have three because of maintaining two campuses. We have a principal, media specialist, counselor and other staff members that aren't serving very many students," he said.
There are no immediate plans as to what will become of the buildings on the Hartford campus, but the administration is not ruling anything out, Ray said.
"The state of Arkansas has a law that requires us to keep the facilities in a usable status for two years," he said. "We don't have to make any repairs to the buildings, but we can't start stripping them of light fixtures, tear them down or sell them. During this time, a charter school can seek to lease or purchase the facilities at a fair market value."
Because Hartford is already a part of the Hackett School District, Hackett already operates its school buses. All good, usable and quality books, equipment and materials will be transferred for use at the Hackett campus, he said.