The Mount Pulaski School Board voted 5-2 this week to close the 460-resident village's only school.

The board's two Elkhart members, Laurie Rhodes and Joe Olson, were the lone "no" votes. Rhodes recommended the school stay open by trimming an administrative position, doubling duties and combining classrooms.

To no avail.

Olson could not be reached for comment late this week.

Earlier this year, the board voted to combine Mount Pulaski and Elkhart middle schools, which created a furor here. Barring legal challenge to the closure, the school's 66 students next year will attend classes Mount Pulaski.

Elkhart will be left without a school, joining Beason, New Holland, Chestnut and San Jose as Logan County communities to lose their schools within the last 30 years.

Fourth-year Elkhart Elementary School Principal Scott Doerr said Wednesday the closure decision was based on finances and low attendance at the school.

District officials have cited declining farmland assessments (10 percent a year for five years), which has dropped equalized assessed valuation from $86 million to $72 million since 2000. Elkhart representatives have argued that any assessed valuation growth that has been realized in the district has come through Elkhart.

According to board meeting minutes, Superintendent Phil Shelton said keeping the Elkhart school operational was not financially feasible. He has said so previously.

Elkhart representatives have touted the village's tourism and historical significance, subdivisions and its location on Interstate 55 and old Route 66 as vital signs of potential economic development and population growth as arguments against any action involving the school.

Shelton referred The Courier's inquiries Wednesday about the school closure to information in the Monday board meeting minutes, which are posted online.

The mood of Elkhart students took a nosedive before the Thanksgiving break when they heard about the board's decision, Doerr said.

"It was somber, understanding of reasons the board gave," he said,

Outside the Elkhart school Friday, brothers Tucker and Taylor Hoe and Andrew Schwarting said they have attended or are attending classes there. Students from both communities already go to the high school in Mount Pulaski, but transportation of younger students is a concern, the three said.

At the heart of the village, several people said the school's closure would be a shock.

Many adult residents of Elkhart, fought, but lost, a battle over closing the junior high portion of the school building earlier this year.

Elkhart also formerly had a high school until 1974.

Over a series of school board meetings in the last year, several Elkhart residents challenged even closing just the Elkhart Elementary middle school which, next year, would have a sixth grade with no students in it.

Elkhart residents also have explored legal options to prevent that downsizing.

Former board member Tina Rogers-Smith of Elkhart resigned during the deliberations leading to the decision to close the middle school and since has been replaced by a Mount Pulaski man, Doug Martin.

Efforts this holiday week to reach Shelton and board President David Meister were unsuccessful.

Board secretary Michael Toohey of Mount Pulaski said reduced costs will bolster the district budget and benefitall students.

Julian Wubben, one of the board's two Chestnut residents with Jeff Haley, said optional trims wouldn't be enough to save what's needed. Enrollments, he added, are forecast to decline.

Longtime Elkhart Village Clerk Gwen Rosenthal said by phone Friday, "I do know nobody approves of what the school board has done to us. We're all taking it personal.

"It's like when we lost the high school. I don't think there's anything we can actually do except, as they say, go along with the program. We're a disappointed town. They're not giving us a chance to follow through what we started the last two years," in economic development.

Walking in downtown Elkhart with a group including her two grown sons and others Friday afternoon, Elkhart resident Gail Clark said, "We're heartbroken. Everyone was very disappointed we can't keep our young students here. A lot of people don't like putting little kids on a bus."

Andrea Niehaus, owner of Horsefeathers, said, "I do know there's a terrific unhappiness and polarization," between Elkhart and Mount Pulaski residents over school issues. "It's not a good thing when a school closes in a community."