Board of Education Closes Deer River, Sarvay Schools CRT, September 3, 1959
Pupils of Deer River and Sarvay schools "for the time being" will attend larger village schools this year, it was decided at a special meeting of the Carthage Central School district board of education last Wednesday night.
The action was prompted by a letter from the State Education Department enumerating three reasons for the departments finding that neither building meets the standards for housing pupils. In the letter, the SED said that a recent investigation at each school revealed the the buildings "do not meet the minimum requirements of the commissioner of education for school buildings in regard to sanitation, water supply and fire safety."
In view of the findings, the board decided to send the Deer River pupils to the West Carthage elementary building and the Sarvay pupils to Natural Bridge. Twenty two pupils were to have attended the Deer River facility, of whom 16 would have been transported in any event. The Sarvay school would have had five pupils.
At the annual district meeting and election in June, voters turned down a $10,000 proposition to provide toilet facilities, a leaching bed, a supply of potable water and additional land to correct the situation at the Deer River school. The vote was an overwhelming 336-69.
Mrs. Gustave N. Sauter, grade teacher at the Deer River school, will teach at the West Carthage school this year and Mrs. Taylor Cummings, kindergarten teacher, will continue her half-day sessions at Felts Mills and will be given half-day sessions at one of the other district schools.
With the retirement of Mrs. Walter Farley, then Sarvay school was without a teacher and none had been secured to to succeed her this year.