In four years, Moon Area fifth-graders will join sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders in the middle school under a plan drafted by Superintendent Dr. Donna Milanovich and approved by a divided school board.

School directors voted 5-4 Monday to move fifth-graders out of the five elementary schools when the new high school is finished and place grades five through eight into the more spacious existing high school building, which will have the capacity to accommodate fifth-graders.

A 50-member committee of parents, administrators and teachers determined this was the most viable option for redistricting.

The plan was supported by board members Mark Scappe, Mark Ulven, Lisa Wolowicz, Rose Varsanik and Nick Pollack. Dissenting were Carol Cellini, Ben Bonham, Mark Limbruner and Jeff Bussard. Mrs. Cellini and Mr. Bonham left the meeting after the vote.

"Our fifth-graders are more like seventh- and eighth-graders," Dr. Milanovich said, adding that grades five and six would be one unit and grades seven and eight would be another unit. Her expertise is in middle school education.

Before she left the meeting, Mrs. Cellini said, "I feel that Allard and Hyde [elementary schools] may be under utilized." She said a lot of issues needed to be examined.

Mr. Bussard said this is one of the most colossal decisions that the board will make in many years.

"I am vehemently opposed to this," he said. "We are not increasing in population by leaps and bounds."

He moved to table the motion, but it failed by the same 5-4 tally.

Mr. Bonham said the number of kindergartners through fifth-graders will decline within five years, and that's when fifth grade will move to the middle school. "It's not the school board's job to speculate on real estate," he said.

Mr. Ulven, who voted via speakerphone, said, "I don't see a hardship or disadvantage, I see academic advantages."

Mr. Pollack also supported the plan, saying, "It's a very good idea. It gives our administration the most flexibility."

Each board member had three minutes to speak. Mr. Bonham tried to encourage more discussion, but the board voted down a motion to expand the time allotment. When that motion failed, he left, saying, "I am disgusted that I wasn't able to speak for more than three minutes."

Mr. Limbruner said it was shameful the board would not extend debate after having the information for only six days. He said he didn't think it was a good idea to send unprepared fourth-graders into the middle school when they enter fifth grade.

He said he didn't go to the committee meetings because he didn't want to influence the committee's decision. Mr. Bussard concurred.

Mr. Pollack said the board members had two weeks to debate in public and now that TV cameras were present, some were using them for political reasons.

The redistricting committee looked at other options, such as creating a fifth-grade center, but members said they did not want to move children out of their neighborhoods and incur additional busing costs.