By Howard Riedel
Buffalo, NY – The Buffalo Board of Education voted Wednesday night to close Kensington High School at the end of this school year.
The closing, approved by a seven to one vote, will save five million dollars in next year's budget. The school was in danger of a state takeover because of poor student performance and a high dropout rate.
Students will be reassigned to other schools next year.
The building itself will be used for GED classes and other adult programs. The board will form a committee to study the possibility of reopening the school in another form in 2004.
Also at Wednesday night's board meeting, national financial experts from the Council of Great City Schools delivered their report on the finance units of the Buffalo school district, calling for a two-year, top to bottom shakeup to restore some accountability to the unit.
The review was initiated after the district nearly lost $35 million in state aid because finance officials missed a filing deadline.