Central Cambria likely facing tax increase

Architects suggest two options for elementary school consolidation

EBENSBURG -- Taxpayers in the Central Cambria School District will likely see an increase in their taxes in June after Draw Collective architects recommended two elementary school options for the school board to consider.

The first consolidation option is to close Jackson Elementary School, which would see all students grades K-5 attend Cambria Elementary School in the 2025-26 school year.

The other option is a two-step transition to eventually consolidate students from both schools into one. The first step keeps K-2 students at Jackson Elementary and shifts grades 3-5 to Cambria Elementary beginning with the 2024-25 school year, before consolidating the schools.

If the board goes that route, Draw Collective architects Cassandra Renninger and Tricia Monaco said the 2025-26 school year would be the earliest full consolidation could occur, based on projected enrollment in the schools.

The architects recommended the two-step option because they said it offers the most flexibility. Since the rate of declining enrollment may vary from projections, a stepped transition allows for the timing of the second step to react to actual enrollment changes, according to the architects.

As part of the feasibility study's future considerations, Renninger said both schools are in need of mechanical, electrical and plumbing upgrades.

Over the next three to five years, Cambria Elementary is in need of approximately $35,000 in repairs, and Jackson Elementary -- if kept open -- would need more than $1.4 million in repairs over the next three to eight years, Renninger said. She said Jackson Elementary's roof is in need of repairs, which would cost the district about $500,000.

To accommodate the architect's presentation on a large screen, the board meeting was moved from the high school cafeteria to the school's auditorium where board members were able to use a microphone and be heard by the larger-than-usual crowd of public participants.

According to documents given to the roughly 70 people who attended the school board meeting Monday night, the district was considering two options for its preliminary budgets ahead of the feasibility study's results, which were released Monday.

If the board opts to merge the three grade levels, the district's taxpayers would save roughly $500,000 annually, but there would be a proposed increase of 2.25 mills, which translates to $33.61 added on to the average homeowner's annual tax bill or $2.80 added to the escrow portion of the average monthly mortgage payment.

If the board doesn't merge the grade levels, the proposed millage increase would be 5.56 mills over the course of two years since Act 1 of 2006 limits the annual increase of mills to 3.81 this year. The remaining 1.75 mills would be raised the following year, according to the documents.

"In this case, the acreage homeowner's tax bill would increase by $83.07 annually or $6.92 monthly," a report states.

School Board President Thomas Woods said school board members have a tough decision that needs to be made by June. He said the district's enrollment projections are daunting.

"It would be nice just to do nothing but when you're in a leadership position you can't just do nothing and hope things work out for the best," Woods said. "If the state is saying your enrollment is going down, it's irresponsible to not have difficult conversations. You have to do something."

Kimberly Bednar, the district's transportation coordinator, said the board will also have to consider the district's transportation costs for all options. (See related story)

The school board will hold a special public comment meeting at 7 p.m. April 29 in the high school auditorium for members of the public to weigh in on the options presented in the study.

District residents will have four minutes to address the board during the two-hour meeting, Moore said.

According to Moore, the board will likely vote on any potential reconfigurations of its buildings at its May 13 meeting when the 2024-25 preliminary budget is also to be approved.

The final 2024-25 school year general operating budget will be approved at the June 20 meeting, he said.

In other business Monday, the board appointed Brandon Kochinsky as the high school's assistant principal at an initial prorated annual salary of $78,000.

Kochinsky acted in the role on a temporary basis for about a month after the board realigned administrative and clerical positions in March. He succeeded Lisa Asashon, now the high school principal, in the role.

Then-Principal Chris Santini became the director of pupil services and operations, which oversees the physical plant, supervising the maintenance department and monitoring the district's energy usage.

In addition to serving as the district's assessment coordinator, Santini also manages many other tasks in his role, including student information, home education, English as a second language and the district's federal programs.

Superintendent Jason Moore said the district's realignment of administrative and clerical positions, along with previous administrative alignments in the business office would save the district about $241,000 annually.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.