5M News

January 21, 2010

Possible closing of NW Area school has parents on edge

JANINE UNGVARSKY Times Leader Correspondent

UNION TWP. – More than two dozen anxious parents came to the Northwest Area School Board meeting looking for answers about the possible closing of Garrison Elementary School.

The board said closing the school, which has been part of the district since 1937, is an option, but far from a done deal.

“I’m not going to deny that it’s a possibility,” said board Chairman Charles Brace, “but it’s not imminent.” He said the closure is just one option the district is mulling to resolve a budget crunch.

Solicitor Richard Galtman told parents the school code provides a very specific process for closing a school, one that requires a hearing and at least three months’ notification before the closure.

He said questions about the net cost of keeping the school open versus moving children to other schools and how to manage staffing, busing and other concerns would be discussed in depth at the hearing.

Galtman said Garrison is the most likely option for a closure for several reasons. The district can’t close the high school or middle school, because there is only one of each, he said, and Garrison is the oldest of the three grade schools and will be the first to need major repairs.

It is in the floodplain, limiting aid available for repairs. It has the smallest K-6 population of the district elementaries and is roughly equally distant between Hunlock Creek and Huntington Mills Elementary.

Garrison Elementary currently has 124 students, 10 teachers and 12 support staff, according to Superintendent Nancy Tkatch.

Parents urged the district to cut back in other ways. Rebecca Piestrak, mother of three district students, said she often gets the same mailing in triplicate. “That’s a lot of waste that can be cut and it’s not cutting people’s positions or closing schools.”

Piestrak said she doesn’t have a child at Garrison but is concerned about overcrowding at the other schools if it is closed.

No decision was made on a hearing, but Business Manager Al Melone said the budget had to be addressed. “We’re really, really, really between a rock and a hard place,” said Melone, who is urging the district to keep all options open, including seeking a tax hike above the state index.

The board also discussed what Melone called a key reason for the district’s cash woes: a mandated increase in its contribution to the teachers’ retirement fund.

Galtman said districts state-wide will see their contribution jump by 72 percent this year and 176 percent the next two years. The board will join with other school districts in petitioning the state Legislature to address the issue. Galtman said residents should also ask legislators to act to prevent large property tax hikes to fund the pension plan.

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