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Parents speak out against plan that would shut down elementary school

MIFFLINTOWN, Pa. – Dozens of parents spoke out Wednesday night against a plan that they say would eliminate their local elementary school and add about an...

MIFFLINTOWN, Pa. - Dozens of parents spoke out Wednesday night against a plan that they say would eliminate their local elementary school and add about an hour commute for their children to go to school.

The Juniata County School District is considering a consolidation plan that would mean eight aging elementary schools would be consolidated into two renovated ones in Mifflintown and Richfield. It is also considering proposals to fully or partially renovate all the schools, but district officials say those would cost more money.

A consolidation would mean the shutdown of Lack-Tuscarora Elementary School near Honey Grove, which serves students in both townships. Students in the school would go to Fermanagh Elementary School in Mifflintown, which is about 30 minutes away, instead.

"The public tonight is asking to keep Lack open," one parent said to district officials. "Will you honor that request as well?"

Lack-Tuscarora was originally not being considered for consolidation, but was added to the plan earlier this year, parents said.

In a presentation Wednesday, district superintendent Keith Yarger cited multiple reasons for consolidation, including having only three principals for the eight schools, frequent transportation for staff between school sites, and the dire need to upgrade school infrastructure.

Support for consolidation runs between 60 and 70 percent in much of the district, according to its internal surveys, but among parents at Lack-Tuscarora, 87 percent are against it, Yarger said.

Due to Lack-Tuscarora's isolated location, the added strain on busing elementary school children to Mifflintown is the biggest problem for parents, although middle and high school-aged children from those townships already go to school there.

"They're trying to convince us that somehow by bringing in 5-year-olds, 7-year-olds, and all the elementary school kids this way that it won't be such a long trip and that they won't have hardships that way," Daniel Love, a parent organizing the opposition against the plan, said.

A vote is expected on the matter at a school board meeting on April 21.

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