Hundreds of students, staff could be moved under Harrisburg School District reconfiguration plan

Lara Bonatesta
·4 min read

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — The Harrisburg School Board and receiver have approved plans to reconfigure the district. This means hundreds of students and staff will be moved to different locations next year, pending approval from the State Department of Education.

During a Tuesday, February 27 School Board and Receiver’s Business Meeting, the district’s reconfiguration plan was approved. This move comes after months of deliberation on how to best address it following Superintendent Eric Turman’s initial presentation in November.

At that meeting he spoke to abc27 about how the plan would make it safer and easier for kids to get to school.

“You go down Derry Street at probably at any time, I have watched kids walk across that street and people are flying up and down that road 40-50 miles an hour. And we have a crossing guard there who comes to work every single day. And if not for her, I am sure a student would have been hit,” he said.

PAST COVERAGE: Harrisburg School District looking at the possibility of reconfiguration

Under the superintendent’s new plan, approximately 40% of elementary students will be attending a new school next year — with a reduction at Melrose — and all middle students will be attending either Camp Curtin Academy or Marshall Math Science Academy (MMSA).

Specific details of the plan include:

  • Steele Elementary School will open at 2537 North Fifth Street in August 2024

  • Marshall Math and Science Academy will become a 6th to 8th grade center

  • 4th grade students in the Marshall attendance area will remain at their current elementary school

  • Lincoln building will become a K-5 Elementary School

  • Scott Elementary School will be repurposed

  • Sessi program at Hamilton will temporarily move to the Scott building

  • Cougar Academy will move to Hamilton

  • Rowland Middle School will begin a three year phase out process – students will move to Camp Curtain and MMSA

Staff currently at Scott Elementary School will be moved to the Lincoln building, staff at Cougar Academy @ the Lincoln building will be moved to the Hamilton building, according to the plan.

The plan will go into effect at the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year, pending approval from the State Department of Education, which typically happens in June. At this time, the district plans to move forward as if the reconfiguration will be approved.

During the public comment period of Tuesday’s meeting, several community members voiced opposition to the plan — including the concern that reconfiguration would cause overcrowding at Camp Curtin Academy — which would be expected to house more than 900 students.

“I think we need to make sure that we have given our parents enough time to really digest what this reconfiguration is going to mean for them. Because it’s going to be huge. I’m never going to agree that we should but 900 students in a building from all over the city. It’s just not going to work,” one community member said.

Another community member also voiced issues with the plan for Camp Curtin, citing concerns about total enrollment and culture.

“Camp Curtin is not adapted for use to 900 plus students. If a goal is to bring students back into the district, we will not do that by having a middle school that is maxed within two years. That school was built to be am elementary school, a middle school it is not currently and will not accommodate that many children,” she said. “Culturally we cannot throw kids into one building and ‘now you’re all going to get a long.’ There are steps that have to be taken and ewe have to lead as a community to ensure that they happen.”

She also added that lack of parental turnout at the meetings does not mean parents don’t care.

“Greater attention has to be given to reaching out to the parents in the city. Meeting them where they are both figurately and literally. When we do not have parental turnout, it is not because they do not care. Not every child has a parent who lives in a two-income household hose employment stops at 5 p.m. making them accessible to attend these events.”

In response to concerns about the total number of students at Camp Curtin, the district’s court-appointed receiver, Dr. Lori Suski cited a district wide feasibility study stating that Camp Curtin’s total educational capacity is currently 1300.

According to the district’s online dashboard, 2022 – 2023 school enrollment was the following:

  • Benjamin Franklin School: 786

  • Camp Curtin Academy: 482

  • Cougar Academy: 389

  • Downey School: 386

  • Foose School: 535

  • Harrisburg City SD: 137

  • Harrisburg HS: 1234

  • Harrisburg HS Sci-Tech CMP: 323

  • Marshall Academy: 87

  • Marshall Math Science Academy: 403

  • Melrose School: 597

  • Rowland Academy: 588

  • Scott School: 461

The superintendent’s final version of the reconfiguration plan and future communications plans can be viewed here. Families, staff and community members can email questions to districtreconfiguration@hbgsd.us.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.