MERRILL, Wis. (WSAU) – Merrill school board members re-approved a decision to move Head Start programming to the Pine River elementary school last night while agreeing to discuss a possible closure of the middle school.

Board members also agreed to examine a plan by board member Loretta Baughnan to close the Prairie River Middle school and move students to the high school and the elementary schools. Baughnan says the district has too much wasted classroom space and that closing the middle school will save the taxpayers money in the long run while making the district more efficient.

The district's facilities committee has been instructed to examine the plan and see how it may fit into the long range facilities plan for the district. Architect Larry LaPage from Sommerville Architects has been asked to sit in and work it out with the board.

Meanwhile the board did move forward with their plan to move the Head Start program to the Pine River elementary school in 2012. Interim superintendent Bruce Anderson says the move will allow the district to capture some federal funds. “There's about 120-thousand dollars there that we can't get to Pine River unless we move that program.”

Both measures were approved on a vote of 6-3.