Hempfield proposes more changes to middle school assignments

Hempfield Area School District directors are expected to revise a plan for next year’s middle school assignments based on responses from a parent survey.

Students from neighborhoods of Youngwood, Edgewood Manor and Timber Ridge Court who were previously expected to move to Wendover Middle School will remain at West Hempfield Middle School under the proposal, and Fort Allen children will be assigned to Wendover, according to Superintendent Tammy Wolicki.

School directors voted in February to condense the district’s three middle schools into two because of a $128 million revitalization project at the high school. In March, the board voted on a plan to assign students to the two remaining middle schools in an effort to balance class sizes.

Built in 1921, Harrold Middle School is Hempfield Area’s oldest school. Ninth graders will attend classes there this fall.

“Parents of these neighborhoods were provided a survey to indicate their school selection,” she said. “Of the 30 parents who responded to the survey, 27 requested for their children to remain at West Hempfield Middle. As a result, the class size at West Hempfield Middle would be negatively impacted with these enrollment figures.”

Wolicki elaborated that the class size at West Hempfield Middle would have been 30 or more students under the original plan, depending upon the grade level.

“The revised division provides class sizes of approximately 25 students,” she said.

Under the new plan, Wendover and West Hempfield Middle School attendance areas would remain as they exist currently, with additions of Harrold’s attendance area.

In a letter sent to families this week, Wolicki noted that the district “recognizes that the middle school reorganization brings many changes, and that this is an additional change for middle school students.”

The school board will vote on the revised plan at 7 p.m. April 24 in the Administration Board Room. Wolicki encouraged parents to contact her or the assistant superintendent of secondary education by email if they have questions.