The Sto-Rox School District may look again at moving kindergarten classes from Foster Kindergarten Center to Sto-Rox Elementary School, a possibility that sparked a storm of protest last year.

This time, however, the driving force would be finances rather than programming. And this time the changes would include moving fifth grade to the middle school, freeing up enough space for the younger children.

"There is supposedly some savings in transportation and building costs," Superintendent Fran Serenka told school board members during a budget meeting June 23. "Is it sound educationally? I believe it is sound."

Ms. Serenka said the idea was raised by experts from Education Management Group, a consulting firm that is studying Sto-Rox at the behest of the state Department of Education. EMG representatives gathered information in May and early June, and the Harrisburg firm is expected to issue a formal report later this month.

With Sto-Rox facing a budget crisis, however,-- the board passed a plan June 24 calling for the furlough of 10 teachers -- EMG offered some preliminary cost-cutting thoughts.

Moving the kindergarten program was one of them.

Part of the savings there would come by consolidating services ??? nursing and guidance, and curriculum and other elementary administrative services would all be under one roof.

It also would simplify transportation, with the elementary, middle and high schools having roughly the same number of children and thus needing the same number of buses.

When the idea was raised last year, it brought residents out in droves wearing "Save Foster Kindergarten" T-shirts. The idea at the time was to move kindergarten without moving fifth grade, and the push for it came from administrators looking to improve the services the district could offer to its youngest children.

Parents, however, liked the idea of having the kindergarten children separated from the older kids, and liked the proximity of Foster.

The kindergarten center is in Stowe. The elementary school and middle school are on Ewing Road in Kennedy, which lies outside the district.

Ms. Serenka dropped that idea when an architectural study this spring showed that there would not be enough room in the elementary school, given an expected rise in kindergarten enrollment in the next few years.

EMG offered an easy answer to that concern.

"They asked me if we had considered moving fifth grade. We had not," Ms. Serenka said. "They asked me why I didn't think about it. I don't know why; I just didn't think about it."

Board member Ed Maritz, however, thinks there are deeper reasons behind the move to get students out of Foster. He accused board President Kevin Kochirka, who also is president of the Presston Volunteer Fire Company, of scheming to get the district to give the fire department the Foster building.

The three volunteer fire companies in Stowe are slated for consolidation, and Presston would cease to exist under the current plan. Mr. Maritz believes that if Mr. Kochirka can land the Foster building as a new home for Stowe's emergency services, Presston would be off the table.

"This guy is an engineer, and he's pretty calm, pretty level-headed," Mr. Maritz said of Mr. Kochirka. "When he gets all fired up about something, you know something big is going on. He's been pretty fired up, pretty excited about this Foster thing. I truly believe this Foster thing is in play."

Mr. Kochirka scoffed at the idea.

"Why would I be so excited? I'd like to have it as an administration building. Or let's talk about selling it and selling [the high school] and building a new high school up on the hill."

Other board members said that even if such a scheme did exist, it would never fly.

"You'd have to get a majority of the board to agree to give it away," Lenora Karpa said.

"I pledge that I will never sell that building for $1," Jean Mayes added. Mr. Kochirka, meanwhile, said that if the building were ever sold, it would be through an auction.

Ms. Serenka said that if the building were closed, she would advocate having the district hang onto it at least until enrollment trends are clear over several years. "The last thing I want to do is get rid of a building and then need it," she said.

For the time being, the board included $25,000 in the 2009-10 budget to cover moving expenses in case such a decision is made.

"Once we get the final report from Education Management, then we can take a look at it," Ms. Serenka said.