The Board of Education voted Monday night to close Fitch Middle School at the end of the current school year. Its population will be shared between West Side Middle School on Brandegee Avenue and Cutler Middle School on Fishtown Road.

Reactions were mixed among parents and grandparents in the parking lot Tuesday afternoon.

"I don't see why they chose this one. This school is in the middle of town," said Mary Melious. She said a lot of students are able to walk to Fitch Middle, including her granddaughter, who lives on Meryl Court.

The choice was mostly about money. Superintendent of Schools Paul Kadri said the district would save about

$1.7 million by operating two middle schools rather than three.

Fitch Middle is the largest of the three schools, but also the oldest. While all three buildings need upgrades, a renovation of Fitch Middle would cost the most - an estimated $17.8 million.

Board member Shelley Gardner cautioned that closing a school to save money is ill-advised, as she quoted from the National School Boards Association's publication "Becoming a Better Board Member: A Guide to Effective School Board Service."

"It must be the money," said Kristie Singleton, who has two children at Fitch Middle in sixth and eighth grades. "They have too many kids in the middle schools already. The classes are big now. I just want to know what they'll do."

The decision Monday on what schools would remain open came after a failed motion to rescind the board's May decision to close one of the schools. Once that motion failed, the board took the extra step by naming the school that will go out of service, essentially clarifying the May vote.

"I had hoped it wouldn't be this one," said Kerry Krassner Tuesday afternoon, at Fitch Middle to pick up a stepson. "I still think they rushed it a bit."

In May, just after the $133 million Phase II school upgrade plan was voted down, the nine-member board voted 6-3 to close a middle school but did not specify which one. The board did not have a plan in place to facilitate the closure in time to execute the change by this past September.

Three board members - Chaz Zezulka, Rita Volkmann and Beverly Washington - voted in May against closing a school until the board could decide on which school to close and until there was a plan in place to move forward. Their stance matched that of many teachers and parents.

This year, the board held public forums and compiled a survey to gather public opinion as it tried to carry out its plan. During the forum process, rumblings about taking back the May vote arose, partly from Gardner, whose activism during the heated Phase II debate propelled her onto the November ballot, and ultimately, onto the board.

It was Gardner who made the motion Monday night to rescind the original vote. The motion failed 5-4.

"This is one of the hardest votes I have ever been a part of in my 30 years of elected service," said Zezulka, who has served the town on the school board, Town Council and the Representative Town Meeting. "I understand both sides, and both sides have very good arguments. Tonight is a momentous decision by the new board."

"I think with the work we did and all of the feedback we had, we made the decision we thought was best," school board Chairman Kirsten Hoyt said.

c.potter@theday.com