Cascade Locks residents who packed Westside Elementary School’s library Wednesday evening were bitterly disappointed when the school board voted 5-1 in favor of busing Cascade Locks high school students to Hood River Valley High School, beginning this fall.

The board members admitted to having spent many sleepless nights wrestling with the issue, before ultimately deciding that the only way the school district could afford to maintain a quality education for Cascade Locks high school students was to transfer them to HRVHS.

Declining enrollment at Cascade Locks High School has reduced state funding by approximately $80,000 a year since 2006, and the decline is expected to continue; at the current rate it could reduce state funding by as much as $180,000 a year by 2012.

In addition, reductions in the state budget are estimated to leave a $1.5 million hole, affecting all the schools in the district. To illustrate how that could affect Hood River schools, Schools Superintendent Pat Evenson-Brady put the number in terms everyone could understand.

“If we eliminated all full-day kindergarten, and all athletics, and all elementary PE and music — at ALL the schools, including Cascade Locks — we would save $1.5 million,” said Pat Evenson-Brady, schools superintendent.

Complicating things further are recent changes in graduation requirements that would be more expensive to provide as duplicate services in Cascade Locks.

As board members took turns explaining their decisions before the vote, the mood in the room dropped noticeably each time a member ended with: “option four” — the option to move all high school students to HRVHS and maintain the K-8 program at Cascade Locks.

The dissenting vote came from Bob Danko, who represents the Mt. Hood/Parkdale section. He explained that though he personally believes in having one high school for the whole district, he would be voting for option one — allowing Cascade Locks one more year to try and increase enrollment — because it was the advisory committee’s preferred option and because it would “allow the unknowns (casino, water plant, state funding) to sort themselves out.”

But before the vote and before the explanations, the board heard from Nick Hogan, school district business manager, who detailed the economic realities facing the district thanks to reductions in state funding and bleak forecasts by the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis.

For the current school year, state budget reductions were announced in December ($558,620) and January ($1,722,000 estimated) leaving the school district with a shortage of $2,280.620. Budget reductions already implemented this year reduced that by $430,000, but that still leaves an estimated shortage of up to $1,850.620.

According to Evenson-Brady, moving Cascade Locks ninth through 12th graders to HRVHS will reduce operating costs at Cascade Locks School by $454,113 and increase busing costs by $17,000 (to provide an activity bus).

Several of the board members mentioned benefits to Cascade Locks high school students that were also outlined by the advisory committee in its study last fall, including access to the entire HRVHS academic program, athletics (23 sports) and activities (about 18 clubs and organizations); access to more vocational programs, the internship and mentorship programs; access to all the support systems in guidance and the Summit Career Center; and access to excellent social services connections.

Students who would still thrive in a much smaller school program could attend the Center for Alternative Learning, located on the HRVHS campus, according to the committee.

Cascade Locks community members who attended the meeting have not entirely given up on the idea of saving their high school, however, as indicated by the parting words of one resident, George Fischer.

“Cascade Locks will unify by this — we will continue to explore every avenue,” he said.

“We haven’t gave up.”