Uniontown school board votes to close two schools
Franklin, Marclay will be shuttered at end of school year
Two Uniontown Area School District buildings will close at the end of the school year.
The district board of education voted 6-3 Tuesday night to shutter Franklin Elementary School in Vanderbilt and Marclay Middle School in Markleysburg in what district administrators said was a response to long-term enrollment trends.
In May, the board approved a grade realignment to accompany the closures. Starting in fall 2027, all elementary schools will take in kindergarten through fifth grade; middle will be sixth through eighth, and high school will be ninth through 12th.
Tuesday’s vote drew immediate shouts from several in the crowd of about 40 people, with one person saying, “You should be ashamed of yourselves.”
Planning firm Crabtree, Rohrbaugh and Associates, which was enlisted to conduct a study of the district’s options, placed the cost of renovating all district buildings to address critical needs at $17.9 million to $20.6 million. At Franklin and Marclay, the deferred and anticipated maintenance costs were estimated at $3.8 million to $4.4 million.
Marclay was built in 2005. Franklin, which dates back to 1960, was renovated in 2002.
Parents who spoke during public comment opposed the vote, saying the board hadn’t demonstrated sufficient need for closing the buildings.
Cody Martin of Perryopolis, who has a child at Franklin Elementary School, questioned whether the cost savings from not upgrading Franklin would be enough to offset additional transportation, pre-K relocation and other expenses.
And he said the change could worsen the educational experience for elementary students. The Crabtree plan would put Menallen at nearly 90% of capacity.
“There are not net savings,” he said. “There is not a number to closing Franklin. There is not proof that this is the right decision. We again are putting the cart before the horse as a district.”
Scott Fordyce of Smock, who also has a child at Franklin, attacked board members for what he saw as a “nonchalant” attitude toward a change he said would destabilize children.
“This will be your legacy that you will leave behind after your tenures on the school boards are over,” he said. “How do you want to be remembered?”
Multiple board members who voted to shut down the schools addressed the crowd before casting their vote to explain their decision.
“It directly impacts my daughter, who attends Marclay School, but we are faced with tough decisions,” said board Vice President Adam Hull. “That’s what I was elected to do. It’s either close buildings, furlough teachers, or cut programs.”
Board President Don Rugola said the decision wasn’t taken lightly by the school board.
“My goal is to make Uniontown the best public school in Western Pennsylvania and beyond,” he said. “We have to put together a plan. We will work on that. Unfortunately, this is one of the hard decisions that we have to make.”
Three board members — John Holt, Kenneth Meadows and William Rittenhouse — voted against the closures.
“I like neighborhood schools,” Rittenhouse said. “I think we’re not saving so much money (by closing) we can’t keep it open.”
The final study submitted by Crabtree in August projected a continuation of a downward trend in enrollment, which has dropped from around 2,900 students in 2011-12 to 2,452 students this year, about a 16% drop. That number is estimated to fall to about 2,350 students by the 2030-31 school year, with the declines being most pronounced at the elementary level.
“Over the long term, districts must make difficult decisions about consolidating facilities or reconfiguring space, as maintaining excess capacity is not sustainable and can divert resources away from educational priorities,” the report said.
After initial talks, the board had directed Crabtree to look more deeply at four options. Option 3, which reflected the new grade level arrangement and the shuttering of Franklin and Marclay, would redirect all K-5 students to Lafayette, Menallen or Wharton Elementary School. Ben Franklin Elementary-Middle School would be realigned to house all middle school students. The high school would continue to be used for ninth through 12th grades.
Superintendent Daniel Bosnic said at a prior hearing that no positions would be eliminated as a result of the grade-level shifts.
The board had originally scheduled a vote in March on closing Franklin Elementary School at the end of the year, before postponing a vote to allow more time to deliberate.