BLOSSBURG - The elementary school here eventually could close following new options laid out by Southern Tioga School District Superintendent Keith Yarger Tuesday.
Yarger presented the board with seven configurations of the district's six schools that included everything from the original one closing North Penn High School to making Blossburg Elementary School, which is attached to the high school, into administrative offices, special needs classrooms and vocational space for the high school.
The catch, according to Quad 3 architect Sam Scarantino, is that the district must continue with its planned building project to renovate and reconstruct North Penn, perhaps fixing the floors and roof on the elementary school and then waiting a year until after construction is completed to begin planning for the closure in order to keep a promised nearly $1 million reimbursement from the state.
According to Yarger, of the options presented Tuesday, the only one that does not result in a deficit at the end of three years is Option 7, which would keep Warren L. Miller Elementary in Mansfield and Liberty Elementary School at the newly renovated Liberty High School.
Liberty High School students would be moved to the renovated and reconstructed North Penn High School, which, along with Mansfield High School, would house grades seven to 12.
Staff would be reduced from 168 to 157 - the largest reduction of the seven options - but one assistant principal position would need to be added at Miller.
The North Penn project would be pared down from $17.4 million to $13 million and $2.5 million would be used to renovate Liberty High School into an elementary school and $500,000 to retrofit the Warren L. Miller space to handle more students.
The board will make its final decision on which school will close next year at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 3 at the North Penn High School auditorium.
