UNION >> A proposal by Superintendent Marybeth Torchia to restore full day kindergarten to the Daniel Boone Area School District in 2015-16 was discussed Monday, coupled with the possibility of closing a school building due to declining enrollment.
Prior to the board’s voting meeting, Torchia told the Curriculum and Instruction Committee that the anticipated balanced 2015-16 budget provides the perfect opportunity to restore the full-day kindergarten program that ended with the 2010-11 school year.
She cited no new costs to the district with the program’s implementation, but said it would require reallocating five teachers.
School board President Richard Martino countered that the declining enrollment indicates the need to furlough at least five or six teachers for $500,000 of savings.
He said that savings should instead be used to fund the district’s $2 million pension obligation.
Torchia said a full-day program would require five additional classrooms, which she said are available at the Amity Elementary Center (AEC) and at the Monocacy Elementary Center.
Martino said the board will need a lot of data and the opportunity to discuss before it is prepared to vote.
He said the vote couldn’t be made before kindergarten registration begins on March 16.
Finance Committee Chairman Andrew Basile said the empty classrooms and continually decreasing enrollment require the board to consider the need to close a building next fall.
“When Amity Primary Center was closed to do renovations in 2009, we put students in other buildings. The discussion was whether to reopen the building. We voted to move in. If we were to close it after spending $9 million – we sat in it for three years and spent $666,000 when it was closed in 2013,” he said.
Basile said a total of $1.5 million would have been saved if the board had closed the school right away.
He said the Monocacy building can accommodate 450 students but has 409.
Birdsboro Elementary Center can accommodate 650 but has 380 students.
Basile said closing an elementary building would involve moving all fifth graders to the middle school and redistricting elementary students to the remaining two buildings.
“We need data on that enrollment – it all ties into kindergarten,” said Martino. “There is a lot of data that needs to be gathered to make an informed decision.”
“There is no harm in doing our due diligence – if the money could be better used on programs,” said Basile, adding, “March is the latest to start the process.”
Student board member Ella Sweet said the board should consider the recent renovations to BEC, as well as the fact that MEC is a newer building.
“Money has been invested into both schools, but we need to look forward,” said Basile.
At the beginning of the board meeting, Beverly Albright, Douglassville, criticized the board for not seriously considering restoring full-day kindergarten.
“It’s very sad that Rich (Martino) said this can’t be done by March 16,” said Albright. “I think this board too often has a can’t do attitude.”
