Otwell Elementary School in Pike County will close after the upcoming school year.
The Pike County school board approved closing the school just over a month after voters rejected a referendum that would have raised property taxes to fund schools.
Superintendent Suzanne Blake tells the Evansville Courier and Press that the tax increase would have generated $2.3 million a year. She says closing Otwell Elementary will save about $700,000 a year.
Otwell is one of three public elementary schools in the Pike County district.
Blake says no final decision has been made about the future of the building which needs $2-to-3 million in upgrades.
The school board also approved laying-off seven staff members, and Blake says the district will eliminate an administrative post.