Comparing Consolidation, Infrastructure Improvement, and Campus Model Scenarios

Introduction

The Southern Tioga School District is evaluating three significant options to address its educational infrastructure and long-term planning needs. This breakdown provides a comprehensive analysis of each scenario, outlining the structure, implications, and potential advantages and challenges associated with each choice.

Option 1: Consolidated High School in Blossburg, PA

Removed from consideration during school board business. This leaves options 2 and 3 on the table.

Under this option, the district would establish a single, consolidated high school located in or around Blossburg, PA. Elementary schools would remain operational in Liberty, PA, and Mansfield, PA. Blossburg would accept the trade off of having a central high school, but losing an elementary school.

Configuration: All high school students across the district would attend the new facility in Blossburg. Elementary students would continue to attend their respective local schools in Liberty and Mansfield.
Liberty High School would be converted into an Elementary School.
Blossburg and Liberty Elementary would be moved to the repurposed Liberty High School.
Existing Liberty Elementary School building would be retired.

Potential Advantages:

Centralizes high school resources, potentially offering expanded academic and extracurricular programs.
Improves operational efficiency and reduces duplicate staffing or administrative costs.
New or upgraded facilities could enhance the learning environment for high school students.
Police, Fire, and Ambulance Emergency Services continue to be available in Mansfield and Blossburg Campus locations, and Fire/Ambulance services in Liberty.

Potential Challenges:

Older Students from outlying areas may face longer commutes to Blossburg.
Blossburg Elementary age students would face busing to LES or WLM
Community concerns regarding the loss of a local high school presence in other towns.
Potential costs associated with constructing the consolidated high school.

Option 2: $40,000,000 Infrastructure Improvement at All Five Schools

Added to consideration. This is a modified version of the original option that seeks to address maintenance needs at all 5 schools. The original price estimate came in around $89,000,000.

This scenario involves investing $40 million to upgrade and improve all five existing schools within the district.

Configuration: All current schools—including both high schools and all elementary schools—would remain open and operational, each receiving infrastructure improvements as needed.

Potential Advantages:

Preserves the current school structure, maintaining community identity and minimizing disruption for students and families.
Addresses deferred maintenance and modernization needs across the district.
May improve safety, accessibility, and energy efficiency in all buildings.

Potential Challenges:

High upfront financial investment required.
Does not address possible enrollment declines or operational inefficiencies associated with maintaining multiple small schools.
Ongoing maintenance and staffing costs remain unchanged.
Attendance boarders between regions may continue to be squeezed to ensure at least minimum viable enrollment is achieved at Liberty campus.
Reduces the ability of the school district to seek financing for future building upgrades and repairs and prevents the district from implementing future operational and staffing efficiencies for at least 20 years.
A little over half of the funding required to complete all maintenance items would still be needed. Items not completed may need to be addressed prior to this debt service being satisfied.

Option 3: North and South Campus Model (Closure of Blossburg Elementary)

Original Consideration, reintroduced.

This option proposes dividing the district into North and South campuses, which would result in the closure of Blossburg Elementary School.

Configuration: The district would operate distinct North and South campus schools, consolidating student populations and closing Blossburg Elementary. Students previously attending Blossburg Elementary would be reassigned to other schools within the new campus model.

Potential Advantages:

May lead to cost savings from closing and consolidating facilities.
Could allow for better alignment of resources and staff across the district.
Potential to strengthen academic and extracurricular offerings by concentrating student populations.
Eliminates need to repurpose the majority of Liberty High School to an Elementary school in the case of future high school consolidation.

Potential Challenges:

While operational and facility costs may be reduced, staffing may need to be maintained due to student-teacher ratio requirements at the Elementary level.
Disruption for students and families affected by the closure of Blossburg Elementary.
Possible overcrowding or transportation challenges depending on how students are reassigned.
Impact on the Blossburg community due to loss of a neighborhood school.
Student sports are currently integrated. Decisions would still need to be made to de-integrate sports and build new sports fields, or continue with the additional enhanced bussing required of integrated sports.
Lack of Police presence at the South campus community.

Conclusion

Each option presents unique benefits and challenges. The consolidated high school model prioritizes centralization and potential program enhancement but may increase travel times for some students. Infrastructure improvement maintains the status quo and upgrades all facilities but comes with a significant financial commitment and does not address existing inefficiencies, reduce operating costs, and limits the ability of the district to address declining enrollment for 20 years. The North and South campus approach aims for operational efficiency but involves closing a local school, impacting the Blossburg community. The district will need to weigh these factors carefully to select the best path forward for students, families, and taxpayers.

Writers Comments

While reviewing all information that has been presented over the last 20 or so years, it is my belief that the school district needs to consolidate the high schools into one location while providing viable Elementary schools at the Mansfield and Liberty locations. This belief has also been echoed by multiple previous school boards, only to be swept aside the following year after a decision has been made because new members have been elected with the express purpose to maintain status quo or to eliminate Blossburg schools. It’s the only option on the table that truly reduces the operational and administrative costs for the long haul and is the biggest lever the school district can pull.

Option 2 is a red-herring, only meant to appease a select few and tie the hands of the district so nothing further can be done for 20 to 30 years. The borrowing capacity of the school district would be knee-capped by already having existing debt service. It is questionable whether the school district would actually be able to survive for 30 years or would become insolvent and need to merge with another school district if this option goes forward.

Option 3 is an alternative to option 1. The reason why it was previously removed as an option is because it severely deviates from the spirit of the school district by entirely eliminating any schools in Blossburg Borough without setting a plan for a centralized high school. It puts into place some of the additional work of centralizing schools, but without actually committing. If the voting regions were properly realigned, that would likely mean an entire region without a school, much like region 2 already is. This was added back as an option for the explicit purpose of showing how asinine option 2 is and because the district needs to cut costs somehow and that option does not even fix all of the items that need addressed.

If they can’t get option 1 across the finish line, then option 3 becomes the next obvious choice. Option 3 doesn’t get the district to where it needs to be from an administrative cost savings, but it does help with the operational costs. Even with Option 3, Option 1 continues to be on the table, although the timeline for the next discussion of the topic is again pushed out 10 to 20 years, much like option 2. Administrative costs will need to be addressed and can only be addressed with a consolidated high school. By that time, we will likely be talking about a new single campus for consolidated Elementary and High Schools.

Either way the school district goes – they should just go ahead and buy a big plot of land for a centralized campus. Put the “Where” to bed. From there, they can plan out the “How”. They know they are going to need it at some point, they know they will have to overpay, so might as well go ahead and authorize a purchase.