CLEARFIELD – During Monday night’s public comment session, the Clearfield Area School District Board of Directors was once again addressed for its previous decision to abolish an agricultural education position at the high school.
Susan Reed, manager of the Clearfield County Conservation District, said she sympathized with their budget situation and understood they were facing decreasing funding and increasing expenditures.
“But I hope you’ll revisit the elimination of this position,” she said. She indicated she’s had the privilege to work alongside the high school’s agriculture department.
“It has offered an amazing experience to our students and this community. This department has offered so much. It offers what this community and our country needs.”
Reed said the high school agriculture department provides its students with instruction in areas, such as carpentry, horticulture, wildlife, forestry, etc. But she said the students’ experience also extends to lessons learned outside of the classroom.
According to Reed, the conservation district now hosts a County Envirothon. She said Clearfield has always had three teams compete from the high school’s agriculture department. She said the Envirothon requires student research and is a difficult competition.
“Clearfield students have always been among the brightest. It’s a credit to the (agriculture) department. Please don’t take this opportunity away from them,” she said.
Jana Davidson, of the Penn State Cooperative Extension, said she has worked with the high school agriculture staff over the past six years. She said she’s discovered that the experience is “special” in Clearfield County.
Davidson said the 4-H and Future Farmers of America (FFA) programs have a solid relationship and work together for the benefit of the students. She said she strongly believes the staff loss will be “detrimental” to the school and community.
“There’s no doubt, the students are shaped by their experiences in the program,” she said. By eliminating a staff member, she said it would only create an overwhelming workload for one individual.
She said there will always be a need for agriculture. In her travels, she said she’s received compliments about the success of the agriculture program in Clearfield County.
Clair Wriglesworth, of Clearfield Agway, said he was a student graduate of the agriculture program at Curwensville. He said that life continues to and will always revolve around agriculture.
He said he learned the position was eliminated due to a decline in student enrollment. But he said he had paperwork in hand, which indicated otherwise to him.
For the first semester, he read that 140 students planned to take agriculture classes based on a list that was provided to the instructor by the administration. A year ago, he said the teacher schedules indicated that there were 122 students for the first semester.
Wriglesworth said Larry Way, of the Technology Education Department at the Clearfield Area Middle School, recalled an approximate population of 100 students during his last year in the agriculture program in 2007-08.
From his personal observations, Wriglesworth said enrollment has not declined but increased by 18 students from last to the upcoming semester and by 40 students from 2007-08 to the upcoming semester.
He said he didn’t believe the figures, which were provided to him, justified the board’s decision to eliminate a staff position. He then asked the board to reinstate the position.
Principal Kevin Wallace said those numbers presented by Wriglesworth “could be” but “realistically” won’t be. He said he had figures that indicated 71 students for the first semester and 51 students for the second semester.
Wallace explained they’re required to have 10 students enrolled in a course for it to be offered. He said he has worked with the department in order to combine student courses.
For example, Wallace said they may have 15 students in food science 1 but only three in food science 2. In this instance, he said they would work together to combine the two so that more classes could be offered to the students.
“But are there 140 students registered to take agriculture classes? Are there 140 students interested in taking agriculture classes,” Wriglesworth asked.
Wallace said they likely wouldn’t have 140 students in the program for the first semester. He said those numbers wouldn’t “work out.” He said every student who requests a course can’t always take it.
Wallace explained that some students can’t be enrolled due to prerequisite courses and scheduling conflicts. He noted it’s especially difficult to fulfill course requests for students who also attend the Clearfield County Career and Technology Center.
“So, is this an issue with numbers or requirements,” Wriglesworth asked.
Wallace pointed out that teachers average 120 – 140 students per semester at the high school. Once again, he directed Wriglesworth to his prospective numbers of 71 students for the first semester and 51 for the second semester in the agriculture department.
Interim Superintendent Dr. J. Thomas Frantz suggested that Wriglesworth meet with him and Wallace for further discussion. Wallace said anyone with questions about the agriculture position elimination could contact him with concerns.
Click here to read prior meeting coverage of the abolished agricultural education position.
