Jackson Elementary still has life, Central Cambria superintendent tells township officials

Dec. 29—MUNDYS CORNER, Pa. — Central Cambria School District Superintendent Jason Moore found himself in a self-imposed hot seat at Thursday's Jackson Township supervisors' meeting, to which he came to address concerns about the district's feasibility study for future needs.

Last month's township meeting featured a packed house of residents who were concerned that falling enrollment numbers would make closing Jackson Elementary School an easy fix.

On Thursday, Moore said that is not the plan.

"Nobody wants to see a complete closure," Moore said.

The district has already been in touch with team leaders at The Learning Lamp about a new state law that allows businesses to receive an 80% tax refund on donations to pre-kindergarten programs, Moore said, noting that Competitive Power Ventures already makes large contributions to township programs and activities.

The idea would be to create "right-sized" classes for the current staff, using both the Jackson and Cambria elementary schools. That would free up enough classrooms for all pre-K-aged children in the township and surrounding areas, using business donations to hire and pay teachers.

Several in the audience spoke up to say two churches in the township already have preschools.

"You're going to put churches out of business," township Solicitor William G. Barbin said.

"We are trying to look for ways to keep Jackson Elementary viable," Moore said, adding that closing the school would save the district $100,000.

Moore presented spreadsheets showing anticipated elementary enrollment numbers through the 2032-33 school year. It showed total enrollment would drop by one-third, from 613 next year to 413 in 2032-33.

Those figures come from the state, based on the number of live births in 2019 and 2020.

Moore said he calculated future estimated enrollment based on recent trends for each elementary school.

Those estimates show that Jackson Elementary School would drop from 196 to 132 students and Cambria Elementary School would drop from 417 to 281 students.

Township Supervisor John Wallet questioned the numbers.

"I have zero faith in those numbers," he said.

Barbin called them "made-up numbers."

Wallet said his observations show that the school should be gaining students. He pointed to several homes in his neighborhood that have been sold by older residents or couples to families with young children, and also mentioned a natural gas line to the township's business park that he said should bring more jobs and more residents to the township.

Moore insisted that the school board hired Eckles Construction Service and DRAW Collective to examine all alternatives for building use and expansions.

"When Eckles makes the feasibility study public, we'll know," Moore said.

Barbin said his experience has been that hiring an architecture firm to study future needs generally brings recommendations for new buildings.

"When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail," he said. "Show me a school district that hired an architect to do a feasibility study and didn't end up building a new building."