Harrisburg School District’s Lincoln Administration Building (file photo)
The Harrisburg School District’s building configuration will look different in the coming year.
At a board meeting on Tuesday, Receiver Dr. Lori Suski approved the opening of some school buildings, the closing of others and the moving of several grades to different buildings for the 2024-25 academic year.
At a meeting in November 2023, Superintendent Eric Turman presented several options for reconfiguration, which he said would help balance student populations at each building, create neighborhood schools on the elementary level, and allow the district to prioritize facility improvements at certain buildings.
Suski approved the plan, which includes removing students from Scott Elementary School and repurposing the building. Additionally, the Lincoln Administration Building will be used as an elementary school. The plan also includes phasing out Rowland Intermediate School over three years and moving those students to Camp Curtin Middle School.
In addition, the plan includes enrolling only 6th through 8th grade students at Marshall Math Science Academy, which currently includes 5th grade. Cougar Academy, which is currently housed in the Lincoln building, will move to the Hamilton building on N. 6th Street, replacing the Specialized Services Education, Inc. program, which will move to Scott temporarily.
At the meeting, several board members and a few community members raised concerns around the reconfiguration, specifically combining both middle schools in one building.
“The rationale is to move all the students from the two schools with the most behavioral issues into one school and then say that the teachers have told you they don’t have any concerns about it; that doesn’t make any sense to me,” said board member Danielle Robinson.
Several other board members made comments about the increased number of students, an estimated 900, who would be attending the school and about the lack of community feedback on the plan.
According to John Reedy, chief of operations for the district, Camp Curtin would not reach capacity, but would be at about 79% of building capacity.
Suski also stated that she believed that there was sufficient room for students in the building and that several other local middle schools have comparable numbers of students.
Turman also justified the decision by sharing that the district wants to move students out of Scott and Rowland, two schools that were originally designed as office buildings, not constructed to house students.
“We are going to work as hard as possible to make sure there are no issues at Camp Curtin,” Turman said. “It’s very important to all of us to make sure we make this work because we know at the end of the day is what’s best for the students of Harrisburg.”
According to Turman, the Harrisburg Education Association, the teachers’ union, expressed support for the plan.
The alternative to the middle school reconfiguration would be to renovate Rowland, district officials explained. However, Reedy said that it would likely cost over $15 million to renovate Rowland, according to a recent feasibility study by the district that outlined upgrades needed to buildings to keep them operational.
In the end, Suski approved the reconfiguration. Next, she said, the plan must be submitted to the state Department of Education for approval.
Also wrapped up in the reconfiguration is the re-opening of Steele Elementary School, a long-vacant building that the district has been renovating. Steele will contribute to creating more neighborhood-based schools on the elementary level, Turman explained.
Also on Tuesday, Suski approved the sale of 42 acres of the district’s land at 1901 Wayne Ave. in Susquehanna Township to the Susquehanna Township School District, which plans to construct a middle school on the property, according to district officials. The Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas ultimately will need to approve the sale.
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