Hempfield parents voice concerns over middle school consolidation plans

Oct. 25—Hempfield Area School District parents say they are concerned about possible disruptions students might face if the district's middle school consolidation plans are approved.

Around 50 parents and guardians attended a meeting this week at Hempfield Area High School detailing proposed plans to permanently close Harrold Middle School and consolidate sixth, seventh and eighth grade students into Wendover and West Hempfield middle schools starting next school year. The moves would come after a multi-million dollar high school renovation is complete.

This was the second public input meeting held by the district ahead of a January vote that will determine Harrold's fate.

"I ask that you honestly consider the emotional cost that this has upon our students. These kids have already suffered enough with covid," said parent Rob Bojarski. "I just ask you to take the emotional price into consideration when you make your decisions."

Concerns raised by parents include longer bus routes, larger class sizes and the impact on special needs children.

Those concerns were echoed in a petition circulating the community, in which parents stated their opposition to the consolidation. The petition has garnered almost 320 signatures, said parent Erin Johns Speese, who said she will continue to collect signatures until a formal vote is taken.

"We are increasingly seeing that the community is not in support of this move and the closure of Harrold," Speese told the district. "So will you actually consider our concerns and our request for an alternate solution? There are parents and community members who would like to work with you to find another solution."

The recommendation to close Harrold came after demographic and feasibility studies showed declining enrollments and costly repairs ahead at the middle school, the district said.

According to the demographic study, enrollment has declined by 2,000 students in the past 30 years. In 1993-94, enrollment was close to 7,400 students. Today, there are about 5,220 students. In that time, two elementary schools — Bovard and East Hempfield — were shuttered.

The study examined each of the district's buildings and it found determined that if Harrold, which was constructed in 1921, were to remain open, it would need $25 million in upgrades.

"In looking at our enrollment, looking at capacity in the other two (middle schools) and then looking at $25 million figure at least to bring Harrold up to standard, the recommendation is for the school closure," said Superintendent Tammy Wolicki.

During the meeting, officials suggested that consolidating could have several benefits, creating consistency in course offerings, maximizing resources and developing cohesiveness in the transition from elementary school.

The goal is to have the student-teacher ratio remain at one teacher per 25 students by moving Harrold teachers to the two middle schools.

"We know there will be some savings with salaries and benefits," Wolicki said. "We're not looking to furlough a bunch of teachers, many teachers, because when we're moving students, we're moving staff. So we're really going to be looking at maintaining our current class size."

Special education services, which are only offered at Harrold, would be expanded into both middle schools.

Community concerns

Despite those plans, several parents expressed frustration and concern about class sizes.

Parent Jennifer Mirt suggested that teachers already are stressed with current ratios.

"When you have a teacher-student ratio of 25 or even above in some instances, the teachers are stressing," Mirt said. "How can you handle that many kids, keeping them quiet, making sure the kids are understanding and taking all of the information and learning?"

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Related:

—Hempfield Area parents air concerns about proposed middle school consolidation

—Hempfield Area officials get look at high school renovation plans

—Hempfield moves forward with borrowing plan for school construction

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Laurie Hougentogler questioned how the district would create special education programs at Wendover and West Hempfield when there are already shortages of teachers and personal care assistants.

"You say you're going to have two different programs in two different middle schools," Hougentogler said. "How are you going to staff them? It's always the children with special needs that suffer in these situations. They are always last because they can't speak up for themselves."

Wolicki noted that board members will take public input into consideration in the months leading up to the vote.

Questions asked during the meeting will also be added to the district website.

"We recognize for students this could be a very difficult change, for some more than others," Wolicki said. "We've already started to look at what some other districts have done and some transitioning programs where we can assist our staff and our students in, if it does come to fruition, making it a smoother process."

Megan Tomasic is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Megan by email at mtomasic@triblive.com or via Twitter .