Jackson Township residents slam Central Cambria elementary school consolidation ideas

Apr. 30—EBENSBURG, Pa. — Jackson Township residents on Monday cited longer student commutes, inflated class sizes, educational impact and more as reasons to oppose elementary school consolidation at any level in Central Cambria School District.

"Now is not the time to squeeze our children into an inadequate facility," said Emily Makin, one of about 25 people who signed up to speak at a public meeting that drew more than 100 attendees. "The prudent thing to do would be to continue to wait until combining the schools is absolutely necessary."

Pittsburgh architectural firm DRAW Collective recently shared the results of a building feasibility study that examined possible scenarios for the future of the district's two elementary schools — Jackson Elementary School, located in the Mundys Corner area of Jackson Township, and Cambria Elementary School in the Ebensburg area.

The study suggested two scenarios — either merging all elementary grades, kindergarten through fifth, at the Cambria Elementary School building no earlier than the 2025-26 school year, or a stepped transition that would start with third through fifth grades merging at Cambria Elementary School and could include a full merger later.

Many Jackson Township residents oppose both approaches.

Several speakers Monday alleged that the school board was rushing a decision, and they questioned the accuracy of the Pennsylvania Department of Education enrollment projections that are driving some of the dialogue. PDE has estimated that Central Cambria School District's total enrollment could drop from 1,601 students in the 2022-23 school year to 1,177 students by 2032-33.

Many speakers asked the school board members to postpone a vote on a path forward that is planned for the May 13 meeting, with some stating they lacked the proper preparation to move forward.

"If you shut down our school, you shut down our spirits," said Jackson Elementary School student Dandelion Heit, 10, who also wondered where all the teachers would go, said she didn't want to be crammed into a class with strangers, and wanted to know what would happen to her and her classmates' playground.

Jackson Township Supervisor Fred Meier said that combining three elementary grades at one building would be terrible and that combining all grades would be a detriment to the students' education. He also advocated for delaying the decision.

Carl Phillips, a representative of the group Residents for Jackson Elementary, said that the board was facing a monumental decision that will affect generations of students. He listed seven arguments for not closing Jackson Elementary School, including that a merger could result in increased class sizes, an impact on education, and longer bus rides that may create barriers to access for students and parents.

Out of the roughly two dozen speakers, two — both district employees — advocated for a consolidation, to the vocal displeasure of the crowd.

Several other speakers said that they'd support a tax increase if it meant keeping Jackson Elementary School open.

At this time, if Central Cambria doesn't combine any elementary grades, the board is considering raising taxes by 5.56 mills over the next two years; if some of the grades are consolidated, taxes could be raised by 1.75 mills. The district's 2023-24 rate is 55.25 mills.

Central Cambria is facing a deficit caused by an inflated property value assessment of CPV Fairview Energy Center that was discovered after the Jackson Township power plant filed an appeal. After an initial reimbursement of $1.7 million, the district must pay back $100,000 per year over nine years without interest to settle the tax repayments it owes.

That issue, combined with projections of population decline, has created what school board President Thomas Woods described Monday as a "difficult issue." He added that he appreciated that the meeting attendees came out to share their opinions.

"These are the types of things that should happen in a small community — people get together to express their concerns," he said.

Woods also said that the entire board was in attendance for Monday's meeting and would take the crowd's statements into deliberation prior to the May 13 meeting.

Board member Chuck Gironda took notes while each speaker stood at the microphone.

"I think it was good to give people a chance to give their input," he said. "We're trying to do what's best for our kids."