Corry school administrators first learned of a Warren County group's desire to link three schools to that district earlier this week.
"The Corry School District board of directors' first learned of this circumstance on the evening of Monday, Oct. 12," said Assistant District Superintendent Richard Emerick in an e-mail to the Times Observer on Wednesday. "In an effort to obtain more specific information, the board has agreed to participate in an informational meeting with representatives from the organization (4 Schools 4 Warren County)."
At a meeting Tuesday evening, the 4 Schools 4 Warren County group discussed the procedure to secede from the Warren County School District and link Eisenhower High School plus Sugar Grove and Russell elementary schools to the Corry School District.
According to David Bauer, a representative of 4 Schools 4 Warren County, there has been informal dialogue between the group and the Corry School District, but nothing official has transpired.
"That will come later on," Bauer said Wednesday evening, adding he is aware that a number of questions will be generated by residents in the Corry area.
Bauer noted that a few of the reasons for potentially leaving the Warren County School District include the protection of school pride and to seek help in keeping the Eisenhower High School building that has been "neglected for decades."
"We have a really well-performing school community that we don't want to lose," he explained.
Bauer emphasized, "We are not in favor of moving (out of the district) as our first option."
The idea of the Eisenhower attendance area joining the Corry School District is not new, according to Bauer, which is why he said he is beginning to look into the lengthy process of leaving now.
"This is something we discussed for a long time," he said.
The action that initiated a response from the 4 Schools 4 Warren County group was a decision by the Warren County School District's board of directors to complete a high school study through planning company DeJong, outlining various two high school scenarios for the district.
From 11 scenarios, the board narrowed the options down to two. The first option would utilize Warren Area High School and Youngsville High School as the two district high schools. The second option would utilize Warren and a new high school. Both options eliminate Eisenhower and Sheffield high schools; Sheffield would be utilized as a kindergarten through eighth grade facility.
The estimated cost of the first option would be $82 million, while the cost of the second would be an estimated $102.9 million.
Keeping four high schools as part of the Facilities Master Plan by DeJong is still on the table. Under that option, which would cost an estimated $85.6 million, Eisenhower Middle/High School would be replaced with a new school on or near the same site, estimated to cost over $24 million. Russell Elementary School would require no action, while Sugar Grove Elementary School would receive a major renovation estimated to cost $5.5 million.
The next meeting of 4 Schools 4 Warren County is 6:30 p.m. Oct. 20 at the Lander United Methodist Church.