Party Line Vote Decides Fate of Enfield Elementary School [VIDEO]

ENFIELD, CT — Nearly three hours of discussion, debate and impassioned pleas at a meeting Tuesday night resulted in the Enfield Board of Education voting along party lines to close Nathan Hale Elementary School at the conclusion of the current school year.

Republicans Ray Peabody, Lori Unghire, Mike Ludwick, Walter Kruzel and Tom Sirard voted in favor of the closure, with Sirard, the school board chairman, casting the deciding vote.

Democrats Tina LeBlanc, Tim Neville, Stacy Thurston and Vinny Grady voted no.

Prior to the board's discussion, a number of town residents, mostly parents, spoke of their desire to see the school remain open, or at least postponing a decision until more concrete information could be obtained.

Under a proposal from Superintendent of Schools Jeff Schumann made in late October, Nathan Hale, a school serving kindergarten through second grade, would close and the students distributed among the town's other three K-2 schools: Hazardville Memorial, Henry Barnard and Enfield Street School.

This would create a "sister school" alignment among the town's K-2 and 3-5 schools: Enfield Street School with Edgar H. Parkman, Hazardville Memorial with Eli Whitney and Henry Barnard with Prudence Crandall.

Photo and video credit: EnfieldTelevision via YouTube