As Decision Nears, Focus is on Pine Forge Closing

Pine Forge Elementary School

Tuesday's Boyertown School Board meeting at the New Hanover/Upper Frederick Elementary School was one of the shortest Boyertown meetings I have ever attended.

But they still found time to dance around the edges of the story top on the minds of most Boyertown taxpayers -- will the school board close Pine Forge Elementary School.

The matter has been before the board for months and last month, about 125 parents urged the board to keep the school open during a hearing required by law before a school can be closed.

But the board faces a problem of a stagnant commercial tax base, increasing housing developments in the Montgomery County half of the district and rising costs.

Keeping the school open will also require millions to bring it up to snuff with the districts other six elementary schools.

At the hearing, Superintendent Dana Bedden said closing Pine Forge could save the district between $1.9 million and $8.7 million because of what it may cost to modernize the building, which dates to 1928.

Last night saw the introduction of the board's newest student
member, junior Eric Muthersbaugh, left, who joins
senior Hailey Levengood.

Tuesday night, School Board President Steve Elsier took the opportunity to answer what he said is a frequently asked question about the matter: What happens if the school board closes Pine Forge and the district's student population grows?

"No one has a crystal ball," said Elsier. He said while the economy is growing, and has been for 10 years, "economies are cyclical and there have been signs of a recession."

Elsier further pointed out that the district's birth rate has slowed, "which is something to consider. What growth there is, is on the east side (of the district) and some of any might be at secondary level," he said adding that Pine Forge is the district's "most remote" school.

There is currently space for around 900 more students in the and should it become necessary, "we can always re-district," Elsier said, noting that even if Pine Forge stays open, the district will still need to re-district.

If all else fails, an addition could be put onto an existing elementary school, Elsier said, noting that the district's current "Plan Con," the process for getting state aid for construction, already includes an addition to Colebrookdale Elementary.

What it also once included, but no longer does, is plans for a new elementary school somewhere in Montgomery County.

Board member Christine Neiman raised the point that some board members had said mis-information was being spread about that, but it had been included in the district's Plan Con.

Board member Donna Usavage said it was included during the financial crisis when Harrisburg was freezing all new requests for Plan Con funding and the school board wanted to preserve its options.

Capacity at New Hanover/Upper Frederick Elementary,

where last night's meeting was held, is at 94 percent.

The option of building a new elementary school in Montgomery County was removed from the district's Plan Con in 2017, said Neiman.

Bedden threw some facts into the mix.

He said overall, Boyertown has 6,819 students currently across all buildings.

On a per-school basis, it breaks down as follows:

• High school -- 88.5 percent capacity;
• Middle school east -- 88.5 percent capacity;
• Middle school west -- 88 percent capacity;
• Washington Elementary -- 71.4 percent capacity;
• Boyertown Elementary -- 62 percent capacity;
• Colebrookdale Elementary -- 76 percent capacity;
• Pine Forge Elementary -- 61.4 percent capacity;
• Earl Elementary -- 63.7 percent capacity;
• New Hanover/Upper Frederick Elementary -- 94 percent capacity;
• Gilbertsville Elementary -- 103.7 percent capacity.

Those figures make it obvious that the growth, and most crowded schools, are in the Montgomery County portion of the district, which only has three of the district's 10 school buildings.

And with that to chew on, here are the Tweets from the meeting:
Pine Forge On Their Minds