FAIRHOPE, Ala. - One of the first things that came across his desk last year as the county’s new school superintendent was what to do about the Fairhope Kindergarten Center, Dr. Alan Lee told a group of about 125 people gathered Monday night to discuss the fate of the K-Center.

“It became clear that I didn’t know enough to make a decision,” Lee said at the start of the hour-long meeting. “What I really want to do tonight is receive input from you.”

More than a dozen people took Lee up on his offer as they went to the microphone in the Fairhope Elementary School cafeteria, and all had the same message: to leave the city’s kindergarten classes at the historic neighborhood school in downtown Fairhope where generations of students have started school.

“We don’t want to see our students in a megaschool,” said Leslie Anne Tarrabella, speaking on behalf of “Save the K-1 Center,” which was formed several years ago when the county school system began discussing the possibility of closing the school and moving the kindergarten and first-grade students to other schools in the city system.

The first-grade classes were moved at the start of this school year to the new Fairhope Elementary School, which opened its doors to some 1,000 students last August. The Middle School that once occupied the grounds of where the FES was built on North Section Street moved to a new school next to the high school on Greeno Road three years ago.

“We’ve got out students in a smaller school now,” Tarrabella said before a sympathetic audience. “One of Fairhope’s strengths is its Kindergarten Center.”

Lee said that moving kindergarten classes to FES would save the county system approximately $720,000, which included $500,000 in salaries and benefits and $220,000 in operating costs.

“That’s a pretty appealing possibility,” Lee said. “I have to think about it.”

One of the speakers Monday was former Fairhope City Council President Bob Gentle, who said an agreement existed between the council and the Baldwin County School Board not to close the K-1 facility in downtown Fairhope.

“I negotiated the agreement,” Gentle said. “It has no time limit. We were operating in good faith. As far as I’m concerned, we’ve got an agreement on the table.”

Although no one in the audience spoke publicly in favor of moving kindergarten classes to the new FES, one person, who asked not to identified, said not everyone in Fairhope felt the same way as those who turned out for the Monday night meeting based on his conversations in the community.

“Most of the people here tonight are parents or teachers and very emotional and motivated about this, which is understandable,” that person said. “But many in Fairhope, who are retired or with children in the system but looking more at the economics of the issue, feel differently about this and would be in favor of the move.”

Lee said that he has not made his mind up yet about the recommendation he will make to the school board.

“It’s a board decision,” Lee said. “My job is to give a recommendation on how our school system can best move into the future.”