Trending
MILL HALL -- There will be a couple of big items on the docket tonight at the Keystone Central school board meeting.
First, the board will vote on the future of Dickey Elementary School. The vote is listed as Resolution 053 on tonight's agenda. It's listed on the agenda as follows: "Recommendation: Resolved; Pursuant to section 780 of the Pennsylvania Public School Code, Dickey Elementary School shall permanently close as a public school and further the administration is directed to explore alternatives for marketing and selling the school as provided in section 707 of the school code."
If approved, the school would close its doors at the end of the 2019-20 school year.
At last week's work session, KCSD superintendent Jacquelyn Martin talked about the potential closure.
"Over the past several weeks, we've been listening to parents, teachers, community members and stakeholders," Martin said. "They provided us with a lot of input on the plans and so forth. We've heard a lot of positive things about the transition plan."
If Dickey is closed, Martin said the district would "reconfigure." Central Mountain Middle School would then house students in fifth through eighth grade. Meanwhile, students from Dickey Elementary would now attend Robb Elementary, which would be the only remaining school in the city of Lock Haven.
In January, KCSD learned that the aging school was in need of a new transformer. The $250,000 price tag for a new transformer has left its fate up in the air -- until tonight. Additionally, Dickey also needs between $8-10 million of upgrades to meet ADA requirements.
"I think it's always disheartening when any school has to close -- there are some challenges that lie ahead with that. But the positive comments that we've received … even though it's sad that the school has to close, the transition plan is responsive to students' and parents' concerns," Martin said.
Also tonight, the board is expected to vote on a revised charter for the Sugar Valley Rural Charter School. For the past several months, the board has tabled payments to SVRCS while negotiations took place to revise the charter. The current charter, which is good for a five-year period, expires in June 2020.
Tonight's meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the Central Mountain High School library.