More than 300 people attended a state-mandated hearing this week regarding the possible realignment of the Connellsville Area School District during which Director Ed Zadylak introduced a revised plan.
His proposal calls for closing Dunbar Borough, Connellsville Township, Zachariah Connell and South Side elementary schools. Dunbar Borough students would go to Dunbar Township, Connellsville Township students would go to Bullskin, and Zachariah Connell and South Side students would attend Junior High West, reconfigured as a kindergarten through sixth-grade facility. Junior High East would be a seventh- and eighth-grade middle school. Ninth-graders would attend the high school. The mountain schools would both remain kindergarten through sixth.
Zadylak suggested the ninth-graders could move to the high school in the fall and Connellsville Township students could move to Bullskin Township. In 2009 or later, seventh- and eighth-graders could move from West to East, and Zachariah Connell and South Side could move to West. Around 2012, Dunbar Borough could move to Dunbar Township, following an addition to the township school.
He said the district could save $1.1 million to $1.2 million, and he said 30 percent of that savings should be used for educational enhancement.
Zadylak received repeated applause for the plan he envisions taking place during several years.
The hearing held Monday is necessary before directors can close any schools. They must wait at least 90 days before a vote.
Student population in the district has declined from 6,222 at the beginning of the 1997 school year to 5,371 as of October. The state Department of Education projects that 4,455 students will be enrolled in the district in the 2016-17 school year. The PDE figures are based on projected births in the area.
Most of the parents and two students who spoke at the hearing expressed concern about board President Francis Mongell's plan to reconfigure Junior High East and West into two middle schools for grades five through eight.
Mongell's plan would close Connellsville Township, South Side and Dunbar Borough elementary schools and bring the ninth-graders to the high school. Fifth-grade through seventh-grade mountain students would attend Springfield, with kindergarten through third at Pritts. South Side students would attend Zachariah Connell, Connellsville Township students would attend Bullskin, and Dunbar Borough students would attend Dunbar Township.
An option recommended by Superintendent James Duncan would close South Side and Dunbar Borough, teach sixth- through eighth-graders at East and West and ninth-graders at the high school. Connellsville Township would absorb South Side students, and Dunbar Borough students would attend Dunbar Township.
Director Kevin Lape recommended the district remain the same, an option he said he has pursued for more than 16 years on the board.
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