After a combined total of 294 years of service, Burton, Irving, and Glenwood Elementary Schools will now share the same fate.

On Wednesday night, the Erie School Board voted unanimously to close each building.

A move, that Erie School District Superintendent Jay Badams describes as unavoidable.

"These are decisions that have been deferred for decades," said Badams.  "So we have to start somewhere and we have copious data that shows that these are the places that we have to focus on first as far as consolidation."

All of the students will now be distributed to other schools throughout the district.  The plans also call for the reconfiguration of several middle schools--including Grover Cleveland, Jefferson, and Perry.

Several parents at the meeting spoke out against the plans.  But a majority of the parents that spoke, have children that attend Harding.  According to the new boundary lines, their kids will have to attend a different school.

Even though the changes will affect hundreds of families, members of the school board say that they are necessary for the district to move forward.

"It's heart wrenching to listen to the difficulties that the kids and parents are going to go through for these changes to take place," said Erie School Director Robbie Fabrizi.  "But at the same time, we understand that we have more facilities than we do students."

The district is currently dealing with a $10 million budget deficit.  These closures are expected to save the district $4 million.

There will be a public hearing on this decision on May 14.  A formal vote will be held in August, making the plans official.