Class sizes, capacity questioned in Scranton schools plan

Oct. 24—Much of the Scranton School District's plan to close three elementary schools is about numbers.

From class sizes and capacity, to costs and a projected enrollment decline, school directors and the public seek clarity as the debate continues.

"The numbers don't lie," said Rosemary Boland, president of the Scranton Federation of Teachers. "The future of the city is at stake."

While the district will hear from the public at a 6:30 p.m. hearing Monday at West Scranton Intermediate School, parents said last week they worry about overcrowding and larger class sizes.

Under the plan unveiled Oct. 17:

John Adams and Charles Sumner would close at the end of this school year. Starting in fall 2023, Adams students would attend Neil Armstrong in North Scranton.

Sumner students would be split between Isaac Tripp and Frances Willard, both in West Scranton. Lafayette Street would be used as the boundary to determine which school students would attend.

William Prescott students would move to Robert Morris in Green Ridge in 2025-26, after completing a $1.8 million addition for needed classroom space at Morris.

A relocation of the Electric City Academy, sale of the Administration Building and selling the buildings slated for closure are possible.

Personnel and operational savings, estimated at about $200,000 a year, are offset by additional transportation costs, about $300,000 a year. The largest savings comes from no longer needing to complete potential renovations and repairs. Combined, Adams, Prescott and Sumner need about $25 million in capital improvements, according to a facilities study.

Enrollment

School district enrollment could decline 16% by the 2031-32, school year — from 9,260 to 7,757 students, according to projections from the Pennsylvania Department of Education that use birth and household data.

Overall enrollment has declined by about 800 students compared to the year before the pandemic, mostly because of the elimination of preschool and the loss of students to cyber charter schools.

School directors and parents have discussed concerns about what the district would do if enrollment increased in the future.

Since 2010, the city's population has increased less than 1%, compared to a 2% population loss in Lackawanna County, according to the city's strategic plan presented this year.

The district has discussed "mothballing" a building, Superintendent Melissa McTiernan said. That means the district could retain one of the closed buildings and reopen it if a significant enrollment increase warrants it.

Capacity

Data compiled by Director Ro Hume, chair of the operations committee, shows how capacity in district schools has grown, even with the closing of Bancroft last year. In the 2018-19 school year, 82% of district elementary school seats were filled. This year, that number is 66%.

Extra space at the city's 10 elementary schools is largely because of the closure of preschool classes two years ago, the shift of fifth graders to intermediate schools over the last two years and the increase of students leaving the district for cyber charter schools since 2020.

One of the greatest concerns from parents last week was whether the moves would increase the number of students in a classroom.

Students from Adams would see the largest difference in class size after moving to Armstrong, since most classes at Adams have fewer than 20 students. The average class size for an Adams student would increase by 5.3 students, but students at Armstrong would actually see class sizes decrease, according to data released by the district Friday. Average class sizes, based on current enrollment, would also decrease for Tripp, Prescott and Willard students.

The teachers contract caps enrollment at 27 students per class in kindergarten through third grades and 28 students for fourth grade. Across all affected schools, total average class size would increase by 1.2 students.

"Our focus should be on class sizes, especially if we're making up for the learning loss from COVID," Director Sean McAndrew said.

Last week, Director Danielle Chesek questioned whether the plan would meet a Pennsylvania School Code requirement of 30 square feet of space per student in a classroom. Officials were unable to immediately provide an answer.

"Everything is moving really fast right now. We need to slow down and look at the projections," she said. "I don't want to be in a situation where we're closing multiple schools and 10 years down the road, we have to raise taxes to build a new school."

Contact the writer: shofius@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9133; @hofiushallTT on Twitter.