If Irvington Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kathleen Matusiak is going to base her recommendation to the Board of Education this week on the proposed merger of the Dows Lane and Main Street elementary schools on an informal showing of hands from hundreds of residents who attended an informational meeting in the high school auditorium, there should be no doubt which way she is leaning.

After all, less than a handful of those polled January 21 indicated they supported the merger, which district officials estimated could save more than $2.9 million over the next five years.

“We’re not just here for the budget. We’re here for the children and the education of the children,” one Irvington resident, who mentioned she no longer had school-aged children, remarked to a rousing applause.

Matusiak explained the idea to merge the two elementary schools originated at a community budget forum just two months ago. With enrollment projected to decline at the elementary level and the tax hike for next year currently hovering between five and seven percent, she said the possibility of having one elementary school was, at the very least, worth exploring.

“This is a community decision,” Matusiak said. “One can’t look at this in isolation. It has to be looked at in the context of the entire budget. We can stay just the way we are if that’s what the community desires.”

“There are many people crying that taxes are too high,” she added. “I’m not saying we should do this. We’re responding to what was asked from us. We’re all working together to make the best decisions for the children.”

If the two elementary schools’ more than 740 children in grades kindergarten through fifth were consolidated at Dows Lane School, Main Street School would become the new location for the district’s Central Office, as well as a possible source of rental revenue. Matusiak stressed “in no case” would she recommend selling Main Street School.

Meanwhile, Matusiak said she was trying to get Main Street School listed on the Historic Register. She is also planning to pursue a Space Relations Study for the entire district in 2011.