PA Lawmakers join HASD in making plans for future
HAZLETON, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — The Hazleton Area School District is the largest district in Luzerne County. With the large student population, there’s also a large need for resources for its students.
Exploring the past and making plans for the future.
On Tuesday, Pennsylvania lawmakers joined Hazleton Area School District officials at one of the oldest buildings in the district to do just that. Some of those plans include smaller, more isolated projects.
“The biggest challenge of course is the auditorium roof. We’ll know soon from the school district if they do indeed need some additional state assistance or if they can handle it on their own,” Senator David Argall explained.
Other projects on the line for the district include a potential new building to account for the rapid increase of students.
“We are one of the fastest growing school districts in the state of Pennsylvania,” said Hazleton Area School District Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian Uplinger.
More than 13,000 students attend the district’s sixteen different schools and their enrollment increases daily.
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Dr. Uplinger says they’ve had to find creative ways to make more space for classrooms.
“We’ve done some conversions of pools into classrooms and libraries into classrooms,” Dr. Uplinger explained.
They’ve also renovated some of their already existing schools to meet demands.
But Dr. Uplinger says they’re still in need of more space.
They’re looking for state funding to help make the project for a new building possible.
PA State Representative Dane Watro says as a former district employee, he is happy to help with the district’s needs.
“We’ll be supportive in all funding that they try to seek,” Watro said.
A new building means more space for children and more education opportunities, something Senator Argall says he fully supports.
“There’s nothing more important than the way that we educate our children. That is the primary duty of state government,” Argall stated.
A decision on opening a new school building will be made within the coming weeks by the Hazleton Area School Board.
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