TREVORTON - Trevorton Elementary School might be getting a four-classroom addition to accommodate kindergarten through fourth grade if the Line Mountain School District moves to close two elementary schools.
Discussion at a school board meeting Tuesday night at Trevorton Elementary School centered on whether the addition is necessary.
"If we stay five sections to a grade level, that requires 25 rooms to maintain what we have now. We have 27 rooms, but we also need classrooms for learning support, life skills and a computer lab," Superintendent Dave Campbell further explained Wednesday. "Can it be done (without an addition)? Yes, but it will be tight."
This year, the elementary grades have 503 students, including 109 in kindergarten.
Currently, these students are divided between the elementary schools at Trevorton, Leck Kill and Dalmatia. The plan is to close Leck Kill and Dalmatia and send the fifth- and sixth-grade students to the junior-senior high school in Mandata to join the seventh- and eighth-grade students in a $3.9 million middle school addition, and send the remaining elementary school students to Trevorton.
If the board decides an addition is necessary, the $1.7 million project would be constructed at the northwest part of the building near Sixth and West Shamokin (Route 225) streets. There would be two classrooms on the second floor, two on the first floor and two in the basement for storage.
There are now 14 classrooms on the second floor and 13 on the first floor. There are also three rooms in the basement, but they would be needed for cafeteria overflow and pre-kindergarten.
The board would like to keep classroom sizes for kindergarten below 20 and for first grade at no more than 20. For second to fourth grades, the goal is to have as close to 20 students as possible.
There is enough space to make it work, but the addition would provide some wiggle room, Campbell said.
Director Dennis Erdman said Tuesday night the administration has suggested these classroom sizes.
"We should take their professional advice. If we need four extra classrooms, I don't have a problem with that," he said.
Next month, Josh Bower, Line Mountain project manager representing Crabtree, Rohrbaugh and Associates Architects, will present plans for the proposed Trevorton project and provide updated cost estimates.
Feasibility study
The board is considering a feasibility study to determine whether eliminating the occupation tax and implementing the earned income tax would be better for the district.
Last month the board announced it may have to write off approximately $567,000 in delinquent occupation and per capita taxes, but the district might be able to make up some of the difference through the earned income tax.
However, shifting the tax requires voter approval. A similar move was voted down twice in Mount Carmel Area School District.
Pink slime
Campbell said the district was notified by its meat supplier, Silver Spring Farms, Harleysville, that the "pink slime" product is not used.
"We do not use it. The people in the area are not affected," he said.
"Pink slime" has been the nickname given to the ammonia-treated filler, known in the industry as "lean, finely textured beef." The low-cost ingredient is made from fatty bits of meat left over from other cuts. The bits are heated and spun to remove most of the fat. The lean mix is then compressed into blocks for use in ground meat. The product is exposed to ammonium hydroxide gas to kill bacteria, such as E. coli and salmonella.