DUBOIS – The DuBois Area School District will close three of its elementary schools for the 2017-18 school year, according to GANT News partner WJAC-TV.
More than 50 people were in attendance for a special school board meeting Tuesday night at the Administrative Center on Liberty Boulevard in DuBois.
The board voted 8-1 to close the Luthersburg and Penfield Elementary Schools. It voted 9-0 to close the Sykesville Elementary School.
The board cited financial, maintenance and enrollment issues as its deciding factors.
“We’ve looked over information and facts. We’ve even had board members on school buses to see how it would impact the children,” board President Patty Fish said. “We did a lot of homework before we made our decision.”
The board also addressed concerns that many community members have about large class sizes.
Board members stated that after the three school closures, the average class size for grades kindergarten through second grade would be about 18 students.
Due to the school closures, 26 people, 10 of whom are teachers, could be subjected to retirement or furlough, according to school district officials.
