“The Commodore building will remain open at least through next year, school board members told 40 parents and staff members Thursday.But they acknowledged that a study of all district facilities is under way, the first step in a process that might lead to the closing of some school buildings.Commodore Center will stay open for 2001-2002, school board President Ken Breiland said, but the District Budget Advisory Committee has reported that we have too many facilities given the number of students, and we need to look at that.Noting that it costs approximately $500,000 per year to keep each building open – not including the salaries of those working inside – Breiland said that the future of all facilities would be examined, including Commodore. The district has a $60,000 contract with Burr, Lawrence, Rising and Bates, the architectural firm that designed the high school addition, to do a study over the summer. The report will identify structures in need of major repairs and list criteria that will help determine which facilities are not being used efficiently. Breiland said a committee with community representatives will look at the findings this autumn.Facilities would not be closed until fall 2002 at the earliest, Breiland said, and even that would be a scramble.Stakeholders in the various alternative programs in Commodore Center turned out to oppose closing that building, among the possibilities raised several weeks ago by community advisors looking at cost-cutting measures.Nina Mitchell of the Odyssey Multi-age Classroom PTO asked that staff and parents there be made part of the decision process. She presented a letter asking detailed questions about the district’s plans for the facility.The letter also expressed frustration, contending that alternative programs receive less BEST support money than other school programs, and fewer teacher stipends. For Catherine Camp, administrator for the Commodore alternatives – Renaissance, Odyssey Multi-age Classroom, Contract Studies, Home School Support Center and the early childhood programs – the point is not which facility the programs are housed in, but that they be kept together.Our parents and teaching staff flourish when we’re all in one place, and don’t wind up scattered throughout the larger school, Camp said. When a program like ours is broken up into minority ‘schools within schools,’ staff have to spend a lot of energy advocating for who they are. When we are all together, teachers can put all their energy into teaching.Breiland expressed support for the Commodore programs.He acknowledged the desirability of keeping the programs – both alternatives and community non-profits – together, and cited their high degree of interaction. We will charge the committee we form in fall 2001 with finding a balanced solution that works, he said. Extra buildings mean overhead that takes money from the classroom – we need to put our money into the classroom.Something has to give and the question is what? That’s going to be a community decision. “