Editor, Gazette-Journal:

The first session of the new school session’s public budget discussions has started with a very positive review of our current local economic conditions. Many were appalled at Dr. Kiser’s recommendation to close T.C. Walker Elementary School. I recommended this three years ago and, if accomplished, we would be approximately $15 million ahead in tax savings.

The taxpaying citizens need to understand the economics of a business management decision that the bottom line is profit. The school has dropped from an Average Daily Membership (ADM) of 449 in 2008 to a current level of 298, a 34 percent loss in the student population. The remaining four schools that can absorb these students also have declining populations.

The Walker site will remain open; possibly unknown to most, the site will be renamed to the T.C. Walker Administrative and Facility Center, Gloucester County Public School System, a consolidated network of all management departments,...