Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry Dr. Darrell Jaskolka speaks in opposition to the high school reconfiguration options under consideration by the Warren County School District school board on Monday. The board unanimously approved a motion to send high school students from Sheffield to Warren for three core classes every day.

After months of discussion, deliberation, and debate, the school board voted unanimously Monday to transport high school students from Sheffield to Warren every day to take three core courses.

High school students who attend Sheffield Area Middle School will take their math, English language arts, and science core classes at Warren Area High School. They will be transported back to Sheffield to finish their days. Because they will spend more than 50 percent of the school day at Sheffield, they will officially be Sheffield Area High School students.

That change will be effective with the start of the 2023-2024 school year in August. It was the only high school configuration change approved Monday — a possible change at Youngsville was tabled.

Board Member Arthur Stewart outlined several determining factors that led him to vote for the hybrid option.

Course offerings was one.

“You had me on the need to change when we finally reached the day when we can’t offer a good physics lab to our students,” Stewart said. “We gain an increase in course offerings We have to take seriously that we can’t offer physics” at Sheffield under the previous configuration.

The teacher shortage, with fewer people becoming teachers and more teachers seeking different career fields, was another.

“We gain a reduction in teacher preps,” Stewart said. “We talk about teacher preps. To the extent that people think that we’re not dead serious about that. I am dead serious about that. We’re defeating the spirit of teachers. And, if we implement this motion, we save money for the taxpayers. I absolutely support this motion.”

He also pointed out that the Sheffield community retains its school.

“I have been an advocate for community schools,” he said. “With this motion we also preserve the presence of a school in the community.”

“We’re not talking about closing any schools,” Board Member Joe Colosimo said. “The building’s there. It’s not like the physical location has disappeared.”

That will be an important consideration if a future board determines that the district would be better off returning high school students there.

The decision was not popular with many in the audience.

Sheffield class of 2024 senior Paris Foster addressed the board before the vote.

“It hasn’t hit me until tonight that the people I’ve been in the same building with for many years may be moving to a different building,” Foster said. She described Sheffield Area High School as “Comfortable – the community, the acceptance, the school pride… mentors, unique memories.”

“I think that you guys should not shut our school down,” she said. “You all were voted on the school board for a reason and that was to make the right decision. The community trusted you at one point and they are hoping to trust to you tonight.”

Wendy MacQueen also spoke before the decision.

“We need to step back from this,” she said. “Gather this information for next school year. Let the new board come in, embrace them. Don’t make this worse by pushing on and making our broken schools worse. We need to fix them.”

“To say I’m disappointed in the vote would be an understatement,” Stephanie Snell said following the vote.

There were tears on the faces of some students who attended.

Not everyone spoke against the proposals for the same reasons.

Dr. Darrell Jaskolka said the option chosen by the board does nothing to bring equitable educational to students at Youngsville and Eisenhower – who cannot take the same variety of courses as students at Warren Area High School whether they be from Warren or Sheffield.

He said the hybrid option was evidently based on buildings and public pressure.

He also commented on the Youngsville K-12 option before the board.

“The K-12 may appease the members of the community,” he said. “It does nothing to expand offerings. It only creates an additional cost to the taxpayers.”

“What I’m asking the board of education to consider… is to delay… and reconsider the two high-school option,” Jaskolka said.

“We cannot keep living in the past,” Pam Nasman said. “Our purpose as educators, parents, community, is to educate our young people so they are productive members of society. Sometimes, that means change. We owe it to our children to grow for the future… to have equal opportunities. You are not going to do that if you keep thinking that buildings are the solution.”

Of three reconfiguration options before the board Monday, that ‘hybrid’ choice was the only one approved. That approval superseded an agenda item that would have moved all Sheffield High school students to Warren full-time, which failed for lack of a second sponsor on the board. An item regarding creating a K-12 center in the western attendance area was tabled – by an 8-to-1 vote with Cody Brown opposing – for discussion by the physical plant and facilities committee.

Prior to that vote, Superintendent Amy Stewart presented three estimates – ranging from about $23 million to about $27 million – for renovations to create a Youngsville K-12 School.

“I’m hard-pressed to put $25 million on the backs of taxpayers…” Arthur Stewart said.

Colosimo said Youngsville High School has not had a major renovation since 1985.

“It’s going to take another 50 years to make a decision on closure because nobody wants to close their school,” he said. To remain open in the intermediate-term, “the western attendance area facility needs attention at a pretty significant level.”

“I don’t think this is the appropriate time to do that,” Board Member Jeff Dougherty agreed. He suggested that a K-12 renovation wait until the building requires remodeling.