It requires information and data looking at a whole host of factors — some more tangible than others.

To help the Warren County school board evaluate options, administration presented a wealth of information earlier this week.

That information is available to the public at “BoardDocs” on wcsdpa.org. It can be found under the “Committee of the Whole” meeting and then the “Discussion – Facilities” item.

Here’s a closer look at some of the items put forward by the administration during Monday night’s meeting.

Photo from wcsdpa.org Youngsville High School would be one of two high schools in the Warren County School District closed as the result of a proposed motion made earlier this week.

FINANCES

If you were going to look at one bottom line driver for the proposed consolidation, it’s the district’s finances.

The school district’s budget has grown by about one-third over the last 10-15 years while the total number of students has fallen by about 25 percent.

There appears to be a recognition among many school board members that the financial challenges are not challenges that tax increases alone can solve.

Data presented projects a $794,298 savings for the 2025-2026 school year by closing Sheffield 9-12 and an additional $1.115 million by merging Youngsville into Eisenhower.

Over a five-year window, the Sheffield closure would present a total savings or cost avoidance of over $2 million, equivalent to over six mills in taxes, according to information presented earlier this month.

The Youngsville to Eisenhower option would protect total savings or cost avoidance of nearly $5 million, totaling over 12 mills.

Information presented Monday outlines the district’s cost per student in each school — $16,686 at Eisenhower, $17,472 in Warren, $19,544 in Youngsville and $23,107 in Sheffield.

On the revenue side, a total of $23.25 million was generated by local property taxes.

Splitting that out by attendance area, the per capita amount of taxes paid was $722 in the Central Attendance Area, $648 in the Youngsville area, $601 in the Sheffield area and $592 in the Eisenhower region.

Enrollment

It’s beyond dispute that a significant portion of this entire discussion centers around ongoing, continuous declines in the student population.

Weber presented 30 years of data to the school board Monday, specifically focusing on the last 10.

The data shows a total of 8,876 students in the WCSD in the 1979-1980 school year.

That number fell to 6,548 by 2000 and under 5,000 in 2010.

The most recent data — the 2023-24 school year — shows a total 3,860 students — 1,953 in elementary and 1,907 in secondary.

“What’s eye-popping to me,” he said, “we’re bleeding (students) predominantly in the high school grades.”

On average, 71 students in grades 8-12 have been leaving the school district each year.

Taking that data and projecting forward does not present a pretty picture.

“If we just go by the data we have in front of us, the best prediction I can give you,” he said, is that there will be a total of 972 students in grades 9-12 in the WCSD in 10 years.

That projection shows a total of 3,079 students in the 2034-35 school year.

The total number of students had an impact on Monday’s debate.

But, perhaps more importantly, where those students live presents equally strong challenges.

While Youngsville and Warren might look like the two most logical places in Warren County geographically to host a high school, the population map complicates that discussion.

“(We) have less than 90 students in Watson, Limestone, Deerfield, Triumph and Eldred (townships,” Weber isa.

QZAB

The district’s renovation and construction projects over the last 15 years — Eisenhower, Sheffield’s elementary wing, Beaty, the Warren County Career Center and Warren Area High School — have been funded by QZAB bonds.

Qualified Zone Academy Bonds are low-to-no interest federal bonds that can only be utilized for renovation of existing school buildings.

It’s long been thought that the QZAB bonds require a renovated building to remain open as a school.

That’s more or less, accurate.

And the impacts of not complying with those provisions would be financially draconian for the WCSD.

“Essentially it comes down to occupancy,” Weber said. “If (we) can occupy 51 percent of the Sheffield building, we’re ok within the QZAB bond. The moment we don’t, the next July one we would owe $700,000 as a remediation payment.”

An additional $400,000 would be lost and the bonds would have to be reissued.

Weber said that moving grades 9-12 from Sheffield to Warren would not put Sheffield under that occupancy limit.

Compliance with that threshold at Eisenhower is less clear.

Weber said that the remediation payment “goes drastically higher” if the district were to not meet the occupancy requirements?

An additional $9 million owed by the next July 1, an additional $2.4 million would be owed and the bonds would have to be reissued there, as well.

And a K-8 use of that complex might not meet the threshold.

“I do have concerns only because of the size of that building,” Weber said. “The square footage is significantly

larger.”

The bonds will be paid in full in 2034 at Sheffield and Eisenhower. Similar bonds for the Warren County Career Center and Warren Area High School will be paid in 2040.

Renovation planning

When you own a building, you have maintenance needs.

It’s a fact of life.

Weber explained that the district was “in a very reactive state” 15-20 years ago when it came to building maintenance.

“Really it was at the cost of students and education,” he said. “Over the last 10 to 15 years, (we’ve) really tried to move into a more proactive approach for the buildings (to) try to get ahead of these items.”

Renovation estimates for the next several years presented on Monday show $4.7 million in work needed at Warren Area Elementary Center as well as $4.3 million at Youngsville Elementary. The estimated renovation costs for Sheffield High is $21.5 million while the cost for renovations at Youngsville High is projected at $25 million.

The district also has a seven year buildings and grounds plan that aims to prioritize and spread out capital projects in all the buildings.

“We know we have to put money into the buildings,” Weber explained.

Is the $25 million projected cost in Youngsville too much?

“There are substantial things that need to be done in that building (that) cannot be postponed over the next 15 years or 10 years,” Weber said. “The moment you go into those buildings and make changes, we’re mandated to do upgrades” such as handicapped accessibility that will drive up the price.

“It can add up very, very quickly,” he added, “whether you’re doing a full blown renovation or not.”