SANFORD — Another Seminole County public school will be shut down as a cost-saving measure, and a decision about closing two more may come early next year.

The Hopper Center, a small school for emotionally disabled elementary students in Sanford, will close at the end of the school year, officials say. The School Board will take a vote Dec. 13 but agreed informally this week that the school must close to help the district cover a budget shortage expected to top $22 million next school year.

The Hopper closing will save an estimated $500,000, according to Superintendent Bill Vogel. His budget-cutting plan also calls for closing two elementary schools to save about $2 million. With declining enrollment in recent years, many schools have empty seats and can absorb students from closed schools.

School Board Chairman Tina Calderone said she expects the board to make a decision on the closings by late January to avoid a repeat of the public outcry when Longwood Elementary was closed last spring on short notice.

Vogel has not settled on which two elementaries he will recommend that the board shutter next summer, but there are 11 that meet his criterion of having fewer than 675 students. They are Carillon, Geneva, Goldsboro, Hamilton, Highlands, Keeth, Lake Orienta, Layer, Midway, Stenstrom and Winter Springs.

Lake Orienta would get a reprieve, however, if most of Hopper's approximately 50 students were moved there, as is being discussed. Older Hopper students would be transferred to the new Endeavor School for high-school-age students with emotional disabilities.

Vogel's plan also calls for eliminating 49 teaching positions, reducing high school coaching staff, cutting back on summer school and trimming janitorial services. The plan relies heavily on dipping into cash reserves, which troubles some board members who worry that money shortages may continue for years.

dweber@tribune.com or 407-883-7885