Uniontown School Board OKs grade realignment
Move would be tied to closing schools
Uniontown Area School Board approved a reconfiguration of grade alignments Monday that would be tied to closing and consolidating some district buildings.
The realignment would shift kindergarten through fifth grades to elementary; sixth through eighth to middle, and ninth through 12 to high school.
Superintendent Daniel Bosnic said the changes are slated to take effect in fall 2027.
Board members voted 7-2 to approve the change, with Kenneth Meadows and William Rittenhouse voting against it.
Jon Tanner, who voted for the realignment, said no board member wanted to see buildings close. But it looked like the best long-term outcome for the health of the district, he said 鈥� though he acknowledged they could look back in five years to see they鈥檇 made a mistake.
鈥淲e are doing our best to make sure that we鈥檙e doing it the right way, so we鈥檙e not going to close school by school by school,鈥� he said. 鈥溾�� I apologize to people that are affected by it. I really, genuinely do, because my kids have been affected by it. I apologize, but it蘑菇视频 going to happen. So try to put your faith in us.鈥�
A feasibility study presented by the firm Crabtree, Rohrbaugh and Associates in April presented a layout with three elementary schools feeding into one middle school, which then went on to the high school.
Had the board voted against the reconfiguration, the next agenda item was a vote on a two-level model presented by Crabtree: an elementary of kindergarten through sixth grade and a secondary level of seventh through 12th.
District administrators said Monday that the buildings that would be consolidated are still to be determined.
鈥淚f something happens, you start to see some boom in population, this and that, it could be brought back to be a school in the future, but there蘑菇视频 no plan,鈥� said board President Don Rugola. 鈥淚t could be sold off, whatever it is. But just saying, those are the discussions that we need to have moving forward.鈥�
Addressing the building upgrades needed at all schools in the district would cost between $17.9 million and $20.6 million, Larry Levato, a principal at the firm told the board earlier this year.
The board had previously planned a vote to close Franklin Elementary in Vanderbilt at the end of the year at its March meeting. Any closure was delayed by at least a year after the board announced at an April work session it would take more time to deliberate on closing facilities.
Rugola said before the board could vote on closing Franklin, it would need to schedule another round of public hearings so residents could weigh in.
Also Monday, the board approved a preliminary budget for 2026-27, as well as an increase in the millage rate.
Business Manager Melissa Schell said the district was facing a budget deficit of more than $573,000, with expenditures forecast for more than $61,659,469.
Taxes would go from 18.76 mills to 19.64 mills. Business Manager Melissa Schell said the higher rate would generate an additional $691,920.
With the higher tax rate in place, the district would still only end the year with an estimated $118,411 on hand at the end of 2026-27, she said.
That could require furloughs or curriculum cuts to free up more funds, she said.
The grade realignment would only occur if the board also subsequently votes to close two of the district蘑菇视频 schools, Bosnic said after Monday蘑菇视频 meeting. Otherwise, the grades will stay as they are.
鈥淭hese are all tough decisions that our board and our school district is facing,鈥� he said. 鈥淥bviously, the goal is to maintain educational integrity for our students 鈥� None of this is easy.鈥�
Parent Lyle Warren of Vanderbilt said with Monday蘑菇视频 realignment, the board had 鈥渂asically back-door voted to close Franklin.鈥� He criticized board member Staci Brant, who cast the sole vote against raising the millage.
鈥淚鈥檇 rather see you raise taxes than close a school,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think a lot of people would.鈥�