For general context - the district in question has seven towns, each with their own elementary school, ranging in size from less than 50 students in the building (Ripton and Weybridge, last I knew) to something on the order of 300-400 (Middlebury), with the next largest somewhere around 100 and the others in the 50-100 range. Most are a little less 10 miles away from the school in their neighboring town, with the closest two being Weybridge and Middlebury (less than 4 miles apart). I don't think any single school has the capacity to suddenly take on the entire student body of another school, but if I'm remembering the meetings from several years ago correctly, if school lines were not tied directly to the town lines, all students could be served in something like four schools without additional construction. (Obviously there are other factors and it's not as simple as "well, just do that, then!")

The elementary schools in Middlebury and Salisbury are each 8-9 miles away from Ripton, or a 15 minute drive in good weather. Some additional factors: The road up to Ripton isn't easy in bad weather, and since Hancock and Granville (not in the same school district) don't have elementary schools of their own, many of their elementary-age kids go to Ripton. Some portion of the older kids from those towns do go to the middle & high school in Middlebury, which looks like a 30-minute drive in good weather (direct drive, not considering bus routes). Should the needs of students in a totally different district be a factor? That's up for debate, as with so many other things.

The article says there were 45 students there this year (a few of whom presumably don't live in Ripton itself, as described above, but I don't know how many that would be). That's actually a few more kids than I expected. I remember when the student body dipped below 50 kids a few years ago, I was jokingly-but-not-really told not to advertise that fact. That was when it was a PK-6th school. The school district then moved all 6th graders to the middle school, and discontinued the PK program in some buildings, including Ripton. At the time, I remember hearing that that put their student population in the 30s, but since the article says 45, my numbers must not be the most up-to-date.

This is not me advocating for any particular outcome - just figured I had some info (too much info, ha) and might as well share!

E: missed a word.