The Consolidation of Colchester’s Schools

In 1937 the Board of Trustees for the Downsville Union Free School were given an ultimatum by the State Education Department, “Build or equip forthwith an adequate gymnasium for the Downsville High School or lose the $13,000 state aid received. Or, plan immediately for centralizing the Downsville high school by taking in 17 other adjacent districts and the erection of a Central school likely to cost a quarter of a million dollars. Failing to set on foot plans for one or the other of these alternative projects will result, as stated, in loss of the state aid now received and the removal of the trustees”.

During 1937 the Downsville High School had been using Bailey’s Hall as a gymnasium, this hall was over a village garage. A State inspector had visited Downsville, inspecting the school and temporary gym and ordered a condemnation of the temporary gym, calling it unsafe and not complying with the provisions of Article 26A of the Education Law. Commissioner Banker issued a formal letter to the Downsville High School Trustees, “Please take immediate steps, therefore, to comply with the mandatory provisions of Article 26A of the Education Laws. I understand that the requirements are 120 minutes per week for every pupil over 8 years of age of physical education work.”

Commissioner Gilbert Banker, Trustee Harley Shaver, Principal Tingue and attorney L.S. Carpenter went to Albany to plead with the Education Department and seek a waiver for the school. The Education officials were courteous, but rejected their appeal.

“They told us,” said Mr. Banker, “That the Downsville high school trustees must provide a different gym; that the present one is unsafe and inadequate and the department’s instructions must be complied with or Downsville will lose its high school and $13,000 a year state aid. District No. 21 has an assessed valuation of $335,000. With this as an assessment base it would not be feasible for Downsville to build a central school, but a way out is for Downsville to centralize 18 districts, giving a centralized district an assessable base of 2,000,000, which would warrant a handsome central school, and involve of course the organization of a bus system for the collection and distribution of the pupils of the 18 districts, similar to the bus system used by the Hancock Central School.”

L.S. Carpenter, of Downsville, counsel to the Board of Trustees, when asked about the mandatory features of the law as set forth by Commissioner Banker and the inevitability of a new gymnasium said:

“The trustees are confronted by a very serious problem. The Albany people say that physical education must be provided, else Downsville would lose its high school and become automatically a district school. Nothing is likely to be done in a great hurry. There is a good deal of sentiment in the Downsville area for a Centralized School. At Albany the people there say they would aid in every possible way, if a central school is undertaken. With reference to the building of such a central school only to have it submerged if the Board of Water Supply dam is located below Downsville rather than above, all that can be said hundreds of families when the dam now is that with the influx of work begins, the present school facilities in Downsville would be utterly inadequate. If the dam submerges Downsville after a central school is built, the city of New York will have to pay for it along with other expenditures.” Downsville Must Centralize or Build at Once, Charles T. White, Catskill Mt. News, January 29, 1937

The Board of Trustees began discussions on the possibility of creating a centralized school which involved consolidation of the 17 surrounding one-room school districts. Each of the Districts had to bring the plan to their residents and pass a proposition to allow the Board of Education of Central School District No. 1 of the Town of Colchester, Hamden, Hancock, Walton and Andes to provide education facilities for all pupils in a combined grade and high school building and to provide transportation for the of the pupils. This created the approximately 125 square miles to form the Central School District No. 1.

The Downsville Central School in Downsville, was constructed with the aid of federal Public Works Administration (PWA) funds. The PWA provided a $108,245 grant for the project, New York State provided $83,700 and the rest was bonded by the School District, the total cost was $232,607. Construction occurred between Nov. 1938 and Nov. 1939.