JACKSON TWP – A change that would affect 10 elementary students will be considered at next Monday's Seneca Valley School Board meeting, when the board is expected to vote on assigning younger students to schools for the 2022-23 school year.
Due to the opening of the new Ehrman Crest Elementary/Middle School in Cranberry Township and the closing of Evans City Elementary/Middle School, district officials have created a plan on assigning students in kindergarten through sixth grade to an elementary school.
But the families in a small zone created for the reassignment want their elementary students' assignment changed, and they have the support of school board member Jim Nickel.
The 10 students in kindergarten through fourth grade live on specific streets in the Cedarbrook, Settler's Grove and Antler Ridge housing developments in Cranberry.
While many students in Cranberry who now attend Connoquenessing Valley Elementary (CVE) in Harmony would move to Ehrman Crest in the assignment plan, the 10 students in the zone would remain at CVE from kindergarten to grade four, then move to Ehrman Crest for grades five and six.
Nickel and parent Kayla Burgert requested that those students also attend kindergarten through grade four at Ehrman Crest instead of remaining at CVE beginning next year.
Nickel asked administration to present an additional motion during next week's vote on the school assignments to move the students in the developments in question to Ehrman Crest.
“I'm going to be advocating for that option,” Nickel said, “and I will be seeking support from the other board members.”
Burgert presented a list of signatures to the the school board of parents who also agree with the move.
She listed many reasons why it would make sense to send the students to Ehrman Crest for their early years instead of continuing to send them to CVE.
School capacity and savings realized through eliminating a bus to CVE were among the reasons.
The board and administrators agreed to include the option when the plan is voted upon next Monday.
