2025 Feasibility Study

Community Questions on the Study and Realignment:

I am concerned about the developmental readiness of students at the middle grades level. 

We share the concerns about developmental readiness, particularly at the middle level, grades 6-8. For the 2024-2025 school year, we adopted a middle school model for grades 7 and 8 for this reason. We follow the model recommended by the Association For Middle Level Education (AMLE) and their This We Believe framework.We have designed our middle school, under the leadership of Dr. Dennis Perry, to be developmentally appropriate for late adolescent learners, using everything that we know about students of this age range. We also believe that 6th grade students are best served in this model using the beliefs and best practice with middle level learners.

What will schedules look like in the 3-5 Intermediate School?

Our team has not yet begun to build schedules for the coming year. Whether we realign our grades or not will give our principals direction on how to develop schedules.

What concerns are there about younger 6th grade students riding buses with older high school students?

This is a good question that comes up often. When we explore the data that emerges from bus discipline, we find that around 70% of student discipline on buses comes from the elementary level. We will hear significantly more complaints about older students on our elementary (K-6) runs being a disturbance for younger students, than at the secondary runs (7-12), where behaviors tend to be from the younger students. Most seniors do not use our buses, as they drive or carpool. As Juniors (11th grade) get their licenses throughout the year, their numbers drop off as well. Add to that, a typical HS student puts on earphones and sits silently. We think that behaviors of our younger students on a bus with older students will actually improve the behaviors of the younger students. In speaking with our transportation contractors, they tend to agree that a move to have 6th grade students on secondary runs will likely have a calming effect on both bus runs.

What stressors do you anticipate on transportation routes if realignment to a K-5, 6-12 busing configuration happens? 

With a 12th grade that does not typically ride our buses being replaced next year by both present 5th and 6th grades (next year’s 6th and 7th grades), bus routes will need to be adjusted. Another grade level is being added and any bus that is presently full will need to be rescheduled. Students who have always ridden one bus, may be assigned to another. Once a decision has been made, our transportation contractor, Althouse, will begin studying the impact of the change. They do this every summer, but there could be more changes to the bus a student rides than we would normally experience. 

If this realignment takes place, this year or next, what happens to the office, support staff, teachers and principal?

This move to realign our schools has much to do with the academic program and the buildings we house them in. We will still need the staff we have to support the same number of students. We do not anticipate any “layoff” as a result of realignment, but rather employees being deployed in both the Intermediate School and Middle School. Under the realignment, Dr. Perry will be the principal of the Middle School and Dr. Elena Tachau will lead the Intermediate School. Dr. Haller’s retirement was recently approved by the board. Office staff will be utilized in other offices. Any right sizing that occurs will be done through attrition as people leave and retire, but we think we need most if not all of the current staff we have to maintain the integrity of our programs.

Will this affect class sizes at any grade levels? Staff level effects? Effects in advanced learner enrichment as well as those who need more assistance?

Any realignment will not affect class sizes at all. We will have the same number of sections in a grade level (3-6) that we normally would. High School class sizes have the most variance from year to year, but that is driven more by student choice and the size of graduating classes. We anticipate that this realignment will have no negative impact on our staffing levels. Annually we review the needs of the district and make additions when needed. This process continues as normal. Our support of students who need additional support is actually strengthened by the move to realign our schools. For instance, a Mental Health specialist who is currently working to cover students K-5 is working in three buildings, and will be reduced to two, meaning there is more time onsite in the buildings they are serving. Special education services, support for English Language Learners and many other programs will benefit from the continuity that is provided by students being in one building for an additional year. 

How will charter enrollment impact our plans?

With the realignment, we have ample space to absorb all of the charter school students who will want to come back to the district to avail themselves of the programs we are building. We anticipate growth in this area and are ready to accommodate all who come to Octorara.

In this realignment, will specialist teachers be losing their rooms and need to move throughout the day?

This can be common in schools as they become more crowded. We have planned for this as we value all of our subject areas equally. There will be more times when a classroom is used by multiple people, but we make this move with the understanding that we have the space for all of our programs to function normally. An example is in middle school. Our multipurpose room, which hosts our board meetings, serves as a music classroom during the day. We will see more dual purpose uses of spaces, but it is important that our programs have homes.

Will 6th grade students still have recess or outdoor time if they are moved to the middle school? 

Part of our developing middle school model is to allow for students to have time that is less structured. It comes in the forms of breaks, access to the outdoors at lunch and structured activities throughout the year to engage this very active age of student.The term recess is no longer used with middle school students, but the concept is still important for their daily routines, even if it looks different.

What are the plans to accommodate the YMCA program that is housed at OES currently?

The YMCA program is an important one for our community and we value it as much as the parents who are utilizing it. The continual discussion coming out of Harrisburg about the need for Pre-K programs illustrates the importance of the learning foundations that are being laid in the YMCA program. We have remained in touch with them as this process unfolds and we intend to have a place for the Y program. In the immediate future, it will remain at OES. Their programs would remain as they are now with the realignment. As we plan moving forward, the continued hosting of the YMCA is a high priority for our Pre-K students.

What would be the benefit of waiting one year instead of doing it this summer?

When we started to consider this move, we began by saying it would happen for the 2026-2027 school year. This was mostly because we believed the planning necessary and the need to prepare our faculty for such a move would need much more processing. As we have considered this move with stakeholders, the benefits have far outweighed the challenges of an earlier move for 2025-2026. 

In short, there are not many benefits at all. The heating system is very fragile. The building does not have central  air conditioning in classrooms. Too many systems are at the end of life and are very disruptive to the educational programs when we have to address them mid stream. Teachers in particular, have communicated that while they would like to be able to stay, the benefits warrant a serious consideration for the coming year.

During the January 28th presentation, the Superintendent quipped that he was afraid of the faculty, and that is why he thought it could not be until 26-27. That was in jest. There is nothing to fear from our faculty. The real fear is not of the faculty, but rather what happens if we burden our faculty and staff with too much. What effect does that have on our students and learning? Our administration is fully aware that the decisions we make, are carried out by others. That our faculty is communicating to us that a 25-26 is a challenge, but may be worth the short term pain for long term benefits, is the largest factor in our willingness to consider accelerating the plan.

Are there empty classrooms in our buildings to support a consolidation like the one being proposed?

We have a lot of space available in our buildings. Any space in a school building will be utilized, but how efficiently is the question. A space that can hold a full classroom of 25 students may be used for just a handful, and for brief periods of a day. Part of the Feasibility Study was to take a close look at the utilization of our space. What is the capacity? How is it currently being used? What would need to be changed? What would need to be added? What are our needs for programs? What are we planning for the future? Our Principals who know our buildings best have all been a part of the process. They have communicated with  consultants on what spaces are being used for and what the program needs are. Where there is space that is under utilized and where any current pressure points are. For reference, our current middle school used to hold grades 5-8 when our student population was much higher. This resulted in the building of OIS, creating much needed space. With the decline of our student population, we have a chance to make this shift and have the space to do it.

What other plans are we planning – e.g. athletic fields?

The Feasibility Study is the major plan for the district buildings and educational program, but there is an existing plan for our extracurricular activities. This is known as the Architerra Plan and there are three phases to that plan. The first phase was actioned last summer with a new softball field being constructed behind the MS and additional, less comprehensive work being done in several other areas. The board has been wise to hold on further activity in the Architerra Plan until they had a clear picture of what the major infrastructure needs are for our aging buildings. 

The financing for all of these projects and renovations has been the background work of the past 12 months, and quite frankly is what is raising this question of whether we really want to spend $8-12 million to bring OES up to where we would like it. If we can get our elementary students into a new space immediately, we can shift our focus to other pressing needs. While this does not guarantee that we can do ALL that is in our plans, we certainly have a better chance at actioning those things that we value the most for our students.

Band starts in 5th grade - if 6th grade moves to the Middle School, has that been considered?

Yes, and no. We have not yet gotten into the details of the realignment. That is taking place in February, should the board give us the go-ahead to take next steps. We already have music teachers in the MS, HS and Intermediate schools. Early plans are to leave the music in place at OIS allowing us to perhaps push music to students younger than 5th grade. In our presentation, we talked about many other efficiencies that emerge from realignment, this is one. We want to maintain the programs we have and expand where we can. 

Where are the drops in enrollment?

Slide 22 of our Town Hall presentation, shows the historical enrollment of the district since 2004-2005. The decline is pretty consistent across grades, but you will note some greater changes in our secondary grades. This data partly informed our decision to move back to the middle school model, as some of the steepest declines have been in grades 6-9.