CLEARFIELD – The Clearfield school board appears to be in favor of consolidating the Clearfield Middle School and the Centre and Bradford Township Elementary Schools and turning the Clearfield Elementary School into a kindergarten through sixth grade campus.
During committee meetings last week, Architect J. Greer Hayden of HHSDR Architects/Engineers of Sharon presented three options for moving forward with the middle and elementary school buildings. Both Option 1 and Option 2 would consolidate grades kindergarten through six into the CES.
Option 1 would include a two-wing expansion and a kitchen addition at the CES. Each grade level would have seven classrooms, except kindergarten, which would have 10 classrooms. The guidance area would be expanded and a security vestibule added to the school’s entrance, Hayden said.
This first option costs $10.4 million and has higher site costs because the two-wing addition would displace the playground area. The second option is similar but would have a “reduced scope” and eliminate the kitchen addition, which significantly reduces its costs. Option 2 costs $8.8 million.
Hayden also presented an Option 3, which would keep all the elementary buildings open and return fifth and sixth grades to them from the middle school. He said this option would include a smaller addition at the CES with the bare minimum renovations to Bradford Township and Centre Elementary Schools. Option 3 would cost the district $.9.3 million for the proposed plans at all three elementary buildings.
At Monday night’s regular board meeting, Board President Dave Glass said in general, they needed to decide between the first two options and the third option. He said the board could more easily “tweak” plans under the first two options, as they progressed in the coming months.
Superintendent Dr. Thomas B. Otto said the board was merely providing Hayden with some direction and wasn’t binding itself to any formal decision. Otto said the board wouldn’t finalize its decision until after the public hearing process and subsequent three-month “cooling off” period, which would be sometime in January.
Glass sympathized with the communities in the outlying schools. However, he said the district must consider the potential savings and efficiency benefits of consolidating to two buildings.
Board member Jennifer Wallace again raised her primary concern regarding transportation and the time students would potentially spend on buses. She asked Otto if the district had explored the possibilities of adding an additional van or bus route.
“As much as I agree, I couldn’t vote for it. I wouldn’t put my own kindergartener on a bus for 50 minutes. And, I’m not going to vote to put another [mother’s child] on for 50 minutes either,” she said.
Otto said the district has explored possibly making major community pre-schools and YMCAs the primary pick-up locations. Business Administrator Sam Maney said he’s researched adding a van or bus route to the current transportation plan.
According to Maney, a district van only holds seven students. He said anytime there would be an extra student at a designated stop, alternative transportation would be needed for them.
He said it would cost the district approximately $20,000 per van. For an extra bus, he said the costs could range anywhere from mid-$30,000 to $40,000.
“It’s a matter of time versus costs,” said Maney. Otto assured Wallace it’s also a concern for the district, and they’ll continue to research and listen to the board members.
Looking upon Option 3, board member Susan Mikesell didn’t believe the district could fit the fifth and sixth grade students back into the elementary schools. At that point, Glass believed the third option would only be “kicking” problems to future school boards in five to 10 years.
“We wouldn’t be doing a real renovation at the Centre and Bradford Township Elementary Schools. We’d just be doing the bare minimum to get by,” he said. “We wouldn’t be doing it right.”
Board member Mary Anne Jackson said she’s been a “proponent for neighborhood schools.” But she said it just isn’t feasible with the location of the elementary schools within the district. She said their locations don’t serve their population and will not in the future.
Board member Dr. Michael Spencer said the state is forcing school districts to become more efficient. Within the next five years, he anticipates that smaller school districts will be seeking to go under the umbrella of neighboring districts.
Last week, Otto said if the district consolidated into the CES and closed its administrative offices, it’d realize a total savings of $1.4 million annually. He said the district would then have one junior-senior high school for grades seven through twelve with grades kindergarten through six at the CES.
The board has also approved advertising for a 780 public hearing at which time it’ll hear public input regarding the closure of the middle school and the Centre and Bradford Township Elementary Schools. One hearing will be held for all three buildings at 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 8 in the middle school auditorium.
Before the closure of any school building, the district must advertise its consideration of the same for 15 days prior to the Act 780 public hearing. By law, Act 780 is a public hearing, required by school districts before consolidation can be considered. In addition, it must be held no less than three months before a decision can be made.