<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2PnBz8_0vi7JPtm00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2PnBz8_0vi7JPtm00" width="1200" height="700" ><figcaption>Youngsville resident Barb Lutton speaks to the Warren County School District Board of Directors regarding school closure. Photo by Brian Hagberg.</figcaption></figure>RUSSELL, Pa. – Though the public hearing regarding closing Sheffield and Youngsville High Schools is more than a week away, several Youngsville residents utilized public comment at Monday’s committee meeting to voice their opposition to the plan.The district is set to hold a closure hearing at 6 p.m. on Oct. 2, 2024, at the Warren Area High School auditorium. The hearing will gather input on the potential closure of Sheffield and Youngsville High Schools (grades 9 – 12), with the Sheffield students reassigned to WAHS, and the Youngsville students reassigned to Eisenhower High School.Four Youngsville residents, Barb Lutton, David Myers, Harold Dunkle, and Wendy Wilcox spoke during the meeting. While each touched on different points, all said that if school closure/consolidation is necessary Youngsville should be one of the schools left open.“We, the Youngsville community, feel that consolidating is essential to the success and future of Warren County School District,” Lutton said. “And strongly feel that consolidating to Youngsville is truly the best option, and the only option.”Lutton also questioned whether there was enough room at Eisenhower to handle the influx of students and staff from Youngsville.“What are we going to do with the teachers,” Lutton asked. “If you close Youngsville, that’s a huge question, and I think it’s a big burning question for our teachers that are part of our community. Are they going to transfer all of them to EHS? That would be great. And we’re kind of surprised that Eisenhower has room for 16 more teachers. See if we don’t move staff, how can we offer more courses? The answer is, we don’t. We just add more kids to the same classes you offer now, and we’re still lacking in teachers that provide the courses regardless of what building they’re in.”Myers said the wrong decision (maintaining four high schools) was made in 2009/10 and it put the district in poor financial shape. He fears the district would be making a similarly poor decision now.“Most of us know change is necessary for the betterment of the district,” Myers said. “We accept that. It’s the manner being proposed we find unacceptable. We were on the cusp 12 to 13 years ago in this district of fiscal responsibility. It was mutually beneficial for all stakeholders in the district, and we dropped the ball again, mostly over partisan stuff. So here we stand, not a dozen years later, and the same decision looms. The difference now is you want the district to swallow this pill for another 10 years.“An East-West solution is the only viable solution. Eisenhower needs to be shuttered and its population dispersed between Warren and Youngsville”Dunkle said Youngsville’s proximity to fire, police, EMS, and other infrastructure makes it a wiser choice to remain open.“Let’s also look at a safe haven in case of an evacuation of a school building, which we know has happened,” Dunkle said. “Within walking distance to Youngsville, you have the fire department. You also have a church. Both of them can put the kids up. They have running water, heat, and kitchens. Eisenhower, during evacuation, you have to go across an open field that’s not a wise idea.“We all hope the injuries emergencies don’t happen, but everybody we have to be realistic. We need to be able to get these kids as quickly as possible during an emergency. Putting them out in the middle of nowhere is going to greatly affect that. Now I don’t know if I could stand here and let that happen without speaking my mind.”Dunkle suggested the district should consider closing Central Office and other staff buildings before closing schools.“There’s three buildings that come to my mind when we talk about different options,” Dunkle said. “You have the Sugar Grove elementary school building, this building (Central Office), and you have the Anderson building. If we’re real worried about money and needing to save money, can’t these buildings and the people in them be shifted to one of the other schools?”Dunkle also said losing the school would be detrimental to Youngsville businesses.“The Rouse and Dairy Queen both employ, and I’m sure others employ Youngsville high school students,” Dunkle said. “If they are no longer in Youngsville, they’re clear over in Eisenhower, they’re not gonna be working at these places. They’re not gonna make it there in time for their shift start. You’d be taking away extra employees that the Rouse counts on to help their staff out with the extra workload.”Wilcox asked what happens in 10 years when the bonds at Sheffield and Eisenhower are paid in full, and if it made sense to continue funding a building that might ultimately be closed in a decade.“You guys realize that $93 million in bonds that the school district has right now they have to pay back. Those are in schools that they’ve invested in and then closed,” Wilcox said. “Are we going to have the sins of the fathers again in seven years where we’re looking at putting millions of millions of the taxpayer dollars that they’re trying to save, are they looking to save them in the future, banking on enrollment going down so it (the district) can put us all in one school building? That’s just the question that I have. Why are we pumping millions of dollars into one school that we’re ultimately going to close for the reasons that we’re all presenting at this point in time?”</div></body>

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Youngsville Residents Voice Opposition to High School Closure

RUSSELL, Pa. – Though the public hearing regarding closing Sheffield and Youngsville High Schools is more than a week away, several Youngsville residents utilized public comment at Monday’s committee meeting to voice their opposition to the plan. The district is set to hold a closure hearing at 6...