District plan may close Pine Forge Elementary
Board considering two scenarios for redistricting
The Boyertown Area School Board has been presented with two scenarios for redistricting, including one that calls for closing Pine Forge Elementary School.
The scenarios were presented at a meeting of the board’s student enrollment committee Tuesday night, Feb. 19.
The presentation, which lasted nearly one hour and was attended by more than 50 residents and school district personnel, was conducted by Superintendent Dana T. Bedden, accompanied by Bill Montgomery of Montgomery Education Consultants and Tim Lambert of Absolute Technology Inc.
The redistricting proposal, which Bedden referred to as “rightsizing,” is intended to create “efficient and effective use of facilities to support teaching and learning.” Both scenarios would create a more even distribution of student populations in each elementary school and move students back to their neighborhood schools.
The scenarios would also eliminate what district officials call “gray areas.” Those are areas in the district with flexible attendance boundaries. They were established in 2010 in response to the development boom, with an eye toward maintaining similar class sizes throughout the district. However, the result is that students living in the same neighborhood, and sometimes even next door to one another, may attend different elementary schools.
“One of our main goals is to make sure we are using our build-
ings correctly,” Bedden said. “We want to ensure that students attend schools in their neighborhoods.”
No redistricting change is expected to be implemented until the 202021 school year. However, Bedden said he would like the board to make a decision by late March or early April.
Scenario 1 would make changes to the boundary lines of only one elementary school — Gilbertsville Elementary, Bedden said. A portion of the students who currently live within the boundaries of Gilbertsville Elementary would be moved New Hanover-Upper Frederick Elementary, and another portion would be moved to Boyertown Elementary.
Under this scenario, 85 percent of students districtwide would not be impacted. Of the 675 students currently attending Gilbertsville, 498 would remain at that school, 48 would be moved to New Hanover-Upper Frederick and 12 to Boyertown Elementary.
This scenario would also impact students throughout the district who live in “gray areas” and would be moved back to their neighborhood schools — a total of about 311 students, according to a chart presented at the meeting.
Scenario 1 would also affect middle school students, with all Washington Elementary students feeding into Boyertown Middle School East, while all of Boyertown Elementary students would go to Middle School West.
Scenario 2 would incorporate most of the same changes in the first scenario, but would also close Pine Forge Elementary School. In that case, the majority of Pine Forge students would be moved to Earl Elementary, and the remainder to Boyertown Elementary.
Under this scenario, 79 percent of students would not be impacted at all, while 12 percent, or a total of 579 would be moved to a new school, and 297 would be moved back to their neighborhood schools.
The impact on the middle schools in scenario 2 would be the same as in the first scenario.
A chart showing projected utilization of all the district schools for the 2023-24 school year, indicates that without any redistricting the Gilbertsville Elementary catchment area would have 959 students, putting that school at 137 percent of its 700 student capacity.
Meanwhile, Boyertown Elementary would have only 468 students, putting it at 67-percent capacity, and Earl Elementary would have 222, or 63 percent of its 350-student capacity. Pine Forge would have about 228 students and be at 65 percent of its 350-student capacity, while New Hanover-Upper Frederick and Washington would both be below their 700-student capacity with 518 and 544 students respectively. Colebrookdale would be at 79 percent of its 350-student capacity with 276 students
Under the first scenario, the projected utilization for 2023-24 at Earl, Colebrookdale, Washington and Pine Forge would not be impacted, but Gilbertsville Elementary would be at 95 percent capacity, Boyertown at 89 percent and New Hanover-Upper Frederick at 93 percent.
Under scenario two, only Washington Elementary would not be impacted. Pine Forge would have no students and the rest of the
No redistricting change is expected to be implemented until the 202021 school year. However, Bedden said he would like the board to make a decision by late March or early April.
elementary schools would be at over 90 percent capacity in 2023-24.
“Everything is much more optimized throughout the district,” Bedden pointed out.
Both scenarios will help the district better address new developments and increasing enrollments. According to figures presented by Montgomery, a total of 2,913 single family homes and 300 townhomes are being planned or constructed in the district. By the start of the 2019-20 school year, 300 new units are expected to be occupied.
The current student enrollment of 6,836 is projected to rise to 6,863 next year and continue climbing to 7,111 by 2023-24.
“We have development happening and if something doesn’t change, we’re in trouble,” Bedden said.
Following the presentation, board members were given the opportunity to ask questions, and then the audience was invited to comment.
Board member Ruth Dierolf asked why Pine Forge was being considered for closure. Bedden said the board had already been deliberating over the fate of that school, and also noted that it is “our most inefficient building,” with no air conditioning.
“If we stick to scenario 1, we can’t send kids to Pine Forge without fixing it,” he added later.
Montgomery said that a portion of the Pine Forge school was built in 1917, and the remainder in the 1950s.
Bedden presented “possible next steps” for the board for making a decision on redistricting. That includes a meeting to review the options, possibly during the regularly scheduled board enrollment committee work session on March 5. Following that, administrator will host two community meetings at the middle schools. No dates for those meetings have yet been named.
The board could vote on the matter as soon as late March or early April.
A PowerPoint of the presentation can be viewed online on the district’s website at www.boyertownasd.org.