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School board votes to close 4 elementary schools in Connellsville Area SD

CONNELLSVILLE, Pa. — Four elementary schools in the Connellsville Area School District will be closed after a vote on the proposal Wednesday night at a school board meeting.

The closures will bring the number of elementary schools in the district to four, down from eight. Although the school board was not unanimous in its decision, Dunbar Borough Elementary, Clifford N. Pritts Elementary, South Side Elementary and Connellsville Township Elementary will close.

Students will be moved from Dunbar Borough Elementary to Dunbar Township Elementary, from Clifford N. Pritts Elementary to Springfield Township Elementary, from South Side Elementary to West Crawford Elementary and from Connellsville Township Elementary to Bullskin Township Elementary. Connellsville Township Elementary will be used for pre-K, according to the proposal.

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Some parents whose children walk to the schools in their neighborhoods were against the closures.

“That means I have to go further to get them, and I’m the everyday grandma and I don’t want to travel,” Jennifer Ritenour said.

Superintendent Philip Martell said that eight elementary schools is too many because of declining enrollment that has left only one class per grade in most of the schools.

“I totally understand where they are coming from, trying to ease the financial strain on the school district,” Connellsville Mayor Greg Lincoln said.

However, Lincoln wanted to fight to keep South Side Elementary open and had hoped there would still be time to work on the proposal.

“People move into our city and buy homes around this school. They don’t want their kids to ride the school bus. It’s a tradition here. Been here for 50 years,” Lincoln said.

 

Cox Media Group

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