Rogers sets date to decide school’s fate

GARFIELD — The Rogers School District is expected to decide in November what to do with Garfield Elementary School.

The most likely result is Garfield Elementary — which opened in 1941 — will close and its students will attend a bigger school scheduled to open in 2024 about 11 miles to the west, community members heard at a public forum in the school’s gymnasium last week.

Close to 100 people turned out for the meeting. District Superintendent Jeff Perry spent about 90 minutes taking questions from the audience, all while standing in front of the gym’s “Home of the Hound Dogs” mural.

Perry told the crowd he wanted the community’s feedback before making a decision on the school’s future.

“We understand the passion for this school,” he said.

The district recently formed a Garfield Steering Committee to discuss options for what to do with the school. It met for the first time Sept. 6. The committee includes Perry; Charles Lee, assistant superintendent; Stephen Bowman, the school’s principal; Gary Blackburn, mayor of Garfield; two parents and two teachers.

That committee is supposed to help provide feedback to the School Board from the community. The board is expected to decide at its Nov. 15 meeting what to do with the school, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Perry noted several challenges to the building, including bringing the school up to Americans with Disabilities Act standards.