After months of controversy, the fate of an elementary school in Cambria County was finally decided Tonight.
The Central Cambria school board has voted to approve a plan to “reconfigure” the grade levels of the district’s two elementary schools.
Effective next school year, Jackson Elementary will remain open but will only consist of kindergarten through second grade students who reside in Jackson Township.
The Cambria Elementary School will consist of kindergarten through second grade students who reside in Cambria Township and Ebensburg Borough.
Additionally, all students in grades 3 through 5 who live within the district will report to the Cambria Elementary school.
Central Cambria school district is holding a school board meeting Monday evening to decide whether or not to consolidate their two elementary schools.
District officials are voting between two options, they can continue to operate both Jackson and Cambria elementary schools, which they say would increase taxes through 2026, or they can integrate grades 3 through 6 at Cambria Elementary.
Just weeks ago, over a hundred community members attended a public comment meeting, with the majority of speakers being strongly against the idea of moving students from Jackson Elementary to Cambria Elementary.
The district is looking to cut costs after it collected taxes from a nearby power plant following an overestimation of what the company owed. The district now has to pay the plant back nearly four million dollars over the next nine years.
At the public comment meeting in April, many parents, grandparents, and even Jackson Elementary students said that merging the two schools would lead to longer driving distances, lower test scores, and larger class sizes.
Those in favor of the merge said it would be safer for students and prevent higher taxes