In the Fall of 2022, Irasburg Village School was faced with a major dilemma. There were far too few teachers to be able to teach the students. There were many options considered. Some suggested block scheduling. Sharing teachers, online learning and hiring substitutes were all considered, and decided against. However, these options would lessen the quality of education for the students, and that was why another option had to be found. The decision was reached that the students in the 7th and 8th grade would be sent to the other elementary schools in the district. All the other schools ended up receiving students. However, Irasburg Village School still has a basketball team, because the team was formed before the split. April Brown, who is the principal at Irasburg Village School, said in regard to concerns about the size of Irasburg going forward, “Irasburg school is the second largest OCSU school so even with the exit of our 7th and 8th grade students we still have just as many students as some of our other OCSU schools.”

   The decision is not certain on what is to come for Irasburg Village School’s middle school. The future for middle schoolers throughout the district was under debate, with a plan for a centralized middle school being made for the whole district, but the decision was made that each school will maintain their own middle schools. Going forward if another situation like the Irasburg one arises, it will be addressed then. 

An anonymous parent of a student who attended Irasburg Village School, and is now at another school in the district, gave a statement on how hard the transition was. She said the first week was rough, and her child would come home crying. She said it was very hard, but he is starting to adapt to the change. She said, “it had to happen, but it was not welcome, as a parent it broke my heart.” She then went on to say “I hope for a better plan in years to come.” Unfortunately, it appears that nothing will change— at least not in the foreseeable future.