Hempfield school board votes to consolidate 3 middle schools into 2

Despite pleas from parents and a petition that purportedly garnered more than 800 signatures, the plan to consolidate Hempfield’s three middle schools into two was approved Tuesday night.

Only one school board director voted against consolidation, which will move all sixth, seventh and eighth grade students into Wendover and West Hempfield middle schools beginning next school year.

Ninth graders will move into Harrold middle school as the high school embarks on its $128 million revitalization project.

District solicitor Krisha Dimascio told the audience that the vote was simply a reconfiguration, and the board would need to vote again to decide whether to close Harrold.

About 50 community members attended the special board meeting Tuesday night in Harrold’s auditorium. Eight people commented.

None spoke in favor of consolidation. They voiced the same concerns they had for months: consolidation could lead to overcrowded classrooms, transportation issues and a negative impact on student well-being, they say.

“We have been asking for more details, ideas and alternative options, and they haven’t provided any alternative options,” Lindsay Stevens, a Fort Allen parent whose child would have attended Harrold next year, said before the meeting began. “They’re not being transparent when we’re asking questions.”

From Hempfield officials’ perspective, the district’s declining enrollment points to a need for just two middle schools. District­wide, enrollment is down about 30% since 1993.

Of Hempfield’s three middle schools, Harrold’s enrollment dropped the most dramatically during that time frame, with a 42% decline. Built in 1921, Harrold is the district’s oldest school.

Longtime board member Tony Bompiani, the board’s sole vote against consolidation, said he acknowledges that the district no longer needs three middle schools.

But he said he voted against consolidation because of the growing costs of the high school revitalization project. The project was initially projected to cost between $97.4 million and $109.9 million, but inflation and planned square-footage expansion jacked those costs up to $128 million.

Bompiani expressed a desire to see those costs decreased.

“I think voting on this at this time … is setting us up for the fact that the high school will be done,” he said. “I’m prepared to vote for this when know we what we’re doing with the high school.”

His opposition vote elicited applause from the audience.

After the board approved consolidation, some parents were still hopeful that Harrold could someday return as a middle school .

“I (encourage) the board to do a study of what we could do to save this school,” said Todd Slavin, a Fort Allen parent whose child would have attended Harrold. “We’ve done so much to renovate the high school. We have two-and-a-half years; let’s see what we can do with this school.”