COQUILLE - Incoming third-graders will walk onto a new campus and Coquille schools will have one less principal starting in September.

Coquille School Board members voted Monday to move third-grade classes from Lincoln Elementary School to Coquille Valley School, where the fourth-through eighth-grade classes are now. The district office will move to Lincoln, where Diann Gillaspie will serve as superintendent and principal of the elementary school.

With state revenues plummeting, the district needs to cut between $800,000 and $1.2 million from next year's budget.

Moving the third-graders to Coquille Valley will save about $130,000 a year. Closing Jefferson - the district is working on selling the former school and current district office - will save an additional $40,000 each year.

Lincoln Elementary's new principal, Julie Entz, likely will be laid off, Gillaspie said.

Entz, who started at Lincoln this year, said she hasn't received official notice, but administrators had discussed the possibility.

"I've had a wonderful year," Entz said Monday following the vote.

Gillaspie said because Entz had only worked for the district starting this year, her contract was probationary and renewable year-to-year. Entz added she understands the position Coquille schools are in.

"There isn't a district in the state that isn't looking at tough decisions," she said.

District officials wanted to move the administrative office to a building that would remain open. If declining enrollment continues, elementary students could be moved to another building, and Lincoln closed.

"It would be the easiest to re-open," Gillaspie said.

The board's decision matches what students and parents selected in surveys. Of 151 surveys, 95 chose to move just the third-graders instead of adding more students to Coquille High School or closing the elementary school to classes. Board members passed the resolution unanimously without much discussion.

Parent Wendy Smith, who has three kids in school ranging from second to eighth grades, said she has concerns about whether Coquille Valley is appropriate for third-graders. She thinks the building's outdoor play areas better serve older children.

"I don't think with all the budget cuts, we have a lot of choices," she said.

Along with grade shuffling, administrative responsibilities will shift. Gillaspie will delegate some of her current duties to others.

"The decision's been made," Gillaspie said. "Now we can plan."