CROYDON — A private donor has pledged $10,000 in hopes of reducing the tax burden of proposed repairs and renovations to the Croydon Village School.

Jim Morgan, a Croydon resident and president of the Newport-based real estate investing firm JFD Realty, said he hopes his donation will kick-start a broader fundraising campaign to complement a likely municipal bond for whatever renovations voters might approve at Town Meeting in March. The details are still in flux, but renovations could cost as much as $1.5 million.

“We’re rattling as many trees as possible,” Morgan said in a recent phone interview. “We need to have a fundraising arm attached to this project to take the burden off residents.”

The one-room, red brick schoolhouse, first built in 1780, is the oldest in continuous operation in New England, residents say. The building is a point of civic pride in Croydon, said School Board member Aaron McKeon, who is spearheading the renovation effort.

The board is mulling ways to renovate the schoolhouse to improve safety, security, and energy efficiency without changing its appearance or overly burdening taxpayers, said McKeon.

The school currently has 23 students in K-4. A single class of K-1 students occupies the brick schoolhouse, while grades 2-4 are taught together in one room of an adjacent two-room modular building. The second room in the building serves as a gymnasium, cafeteria and a place to hold assemblies.

The town’s remaining 60 or so students in grades 5-12 attend schools in nearby communities. Croydon pays $17,125 per student to the receiving districts.

The schoolhouse is “warm and the kids are safe,” but the building needs to be brought into compliance with state health and safety codes, said Susan Blair, who heads the school.

As is typical of the staff at a small school, Blair is something of a jack-of-all-trades and a master multitasker. She is the school’s special education coordinator, principal, security guard and lately, its snow-shoveler. “It’s very charming,” she said, but added that she hopes to persuade the town to help with snow removal.

The modular building adjacent to the school has exceeded its usable lifespan, she said, and the need for students and staff to move between buildings presents security concerns.

The district’s staff includes two full-time classroom teachers, and part-time teachers in special education, art, music, physical education, and STEM, along with two paraeducators.

All educators should have the chance to work in a one-room schoolhouse, Blair said.

“Every teacher should be ready to teach multi-grade,” she said. Even in the same grade, children don’t come to school at the same developmental, physical or academic levels. “You need to be prepared to teach a grade and a half below and above in all subject areas,” she added.

Still, teaching students in three grade levels at once is “a lot,” Blair said. It means teaching a group of children with a five-year age span. “Lots of people can do it, but it takes expertise,” she said.

It is likely, she added, that Town Meeting voters will be asked to consider a warrant article about which grades the village school should house.

The budget process is still evolving, but McKeon said he expects voters will be asked in March to decide on two options. The first would be to expand the red brick schoolhouse so it can accommodate four grades, K-3, under one roof. Croydon would then pay tuition for fourth graders to attend schools of their choice.

Because early childhood typically encompasses ages 0 through 9, fourth graders “are no longer considered early childhood in the continuum of learning. They’re at a different developmental stage,” from their younger classmates, Blair said.

The second question voters are likely to see on the ballot in March is whether to offer a tuition-based preschool.

“Depending on how the public votes, there are multiple outcomes,” McKeon said. “You might end up with the one-room schoolhouse being pre-K and K, or K and first grade,” he said.

Although the figures have not been finalized, McKeon said that renovating the brick schoolhouse for a smaller student body would cost about $350,000.

Renovating and expanding the schoolhouse for students to attend through third grade would cost roughly $1.5 million, McKeon said.

In both scenarios, voters would bear the tuition burden for sending more students to neighboring schools.

“Croydon is not a high-income town,” McKeon said. “We need to be mindful of the burden on the taxpayers.”

Referring to the 2022 Town Meeting at which a small group of residents attempted to slash $800,000 from the $1.7 million school budget, McKeon said, “There’s been a lot of drama over the years with our district.”

The 2022 budget cuts were later overturned by a 377 to 2 vote at a petitioned special meeting. But the effort pulled focus from the renovation efforts and all of the logistical decisions related to it.

“We’re trying to move forward in a positive direction,” McKeon said. A vote on the future of the school would be a “nice moment for the town to come to some degree of consensus.”

At the 2024 Town Meeting, residents voted to reduce a proposed $100,000 appropriation for a capital reserve fund for school improvements to $5,000.

The School Board has been putting out feelers to see about raising funds from donations and grants. “The more voluntary contributions the better,” McKeon said.

A fundraiser is tentatively planned for the spring, Morgan said. Anyone wishing to donate to the village school rehabilitation fund may call the school directly, he added. The school’s main number is 603-863-2080.

Christina Dolan can be reached at cdolan@vnews.com or 603-727-3208.