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[NightmarePatrol]

Interestingly enough I had discussed something similar with our facilities director at work about reusing existing infrastructure versus new. Much of the time it's actually cheaper for a company to build something new than bring old buildings up to code. That being said it leas a lot of abandoned properties along the way. (abandoned Walmarts aare everywhere in the south). The problem is that when it's a government owned building they just can't do that. Unless they have a suitor lined up to convert the building to a different use like they did with the old Junior High in Meadville.

It sounds like more homework need to me done to me, but I'm not even remotely intimate with the situation there. Just an observation on my part.

[GROK]

Potential cost savings of just Sharon-Farrell: No new $20 million renovation to pay off. 1 supt. 1 director of maintenance, of curriculum, 1 business manager. 1 administrative office to staff and run...

Sarandrea cited an unscientific herald web poll showing only 30-some percent favored merging with farrell, this the rest didn't. No, the question was what should sharon do: fix case, expand hadley or abandon those and merge with farrell. It wasn't merge/don't merge.

Along that same line, a separate story today talked about how the decision about building or remodeling might hinge on problems with abandoned coal mines below. Um, they've studied the buildings and compared with cost figures, but this little detail/cost is still totally unexplored?

It seems in that article that the powers that be are not even considering consolidation. Maybe the mine issue is fortuitous in that it will slow down this railroad(ing). Maybe the voters can let their voices be heard on consolidation before this new expenditure is set in stone.
 
 
BTW....I wonder what evil sinkhole lurks under my place??? I hope I NEVER find out!

[JimV]

I think the mine issue is suddenly being thrown out as an attempt to strengthen the case (no pun intended) for the Hadley site.

[CindyLouWho]

The problem is that when it's a government owned building they just can't do that. Unless they have a suitor lined up to convert the building to a different use like they did with the old Junior High in Meadville.

Good point.  It's a shame that the rules are such that it isn't always what's best for all involved.  We had the whole colsolidation discussion here in our district a few years back (Conneaut) and most people were against it.  There are pros and cons to both sides.  The major theme of negativiy seemed to revolve around 1.) Families argued about the positives of growing up in a smaller school.....they didn't want to lose that identity tied with the school, community pride, etc.  and 2.) The increased tax involved pissed a lot of people off and 3.) Parents complained that combining three schools would create too much competition in the sports programs and less playing time for thier kids.....they were afraid of try-outs and kids not making the team.  (Funny thing is our school right now can't seem to find enough kids to create a football team this fall....they are calling kids and asking them to play.)  The problems were not keeping up to code, but rather overcrowed classrooms.  They did major renovations to all three high schools.  Our school now has 2 gyms to accomodate all of the sports programs and their practice and game schedules and all the offices are new opening up the old offices for more classroom space.   Nothing has been done to improve their acedemic program however.

[Jayhawk]

BTW....I wonder what evil sinkhole lurks under my place??? I hope I NEVER find out!

I think you're safe. The bulk of the problem area is from Euclid Ave. eastward and throughout hermitage, as well as a separate region atop the west hill and into brookfield. Lore i've heard is that there were design changes when Hickory HS was built to work around underground voids.

After sinkholes started popping up here and there annually, Sharon did core-boring tests in the late 70s (there used to be a map/model in the city building lobby in a plexiglass case).

Maybe 15 years ago they followed up by pumping sand slurry into the ground throughout that neighborhood. However, i understand that this material may be starting to migrate underground and fail.

the sharon coal seam is only a couple feet thick, and miners (often backyard operations) just kept digging to follow it. There are no maps.

i believe one of the larger mine operations had an opening near Strawbridge Ave. and East State, which explains why some of the worst problems have been in the blocks around the case/high school property.

[GROK]

After reading the Herald today, I give kudos to Sharon School Board member Christopher Gavin. It finally appears that the concept of consolidation becoming a reality is a cogent option. Let us hope for all of the Valley's taxpayers that it comes to fruition. In regard to the sports teams being a stumbling block, just think what it will do to the prestige of the valley if a consolidated district can field a quad A team made up of the talent we have here in the community (a la Marlin Jackson,etc)

[JimV]

I've always felt it was ridiculous that Farrell and Sharon--not only the school districts but the cities as well--didn't merge years ago.  I do think there would be some unrest if the school districts merged (there are some Sharon residents who actually like to cop elitist attitudes toward Farrell, and as the smaller district, Farrell would likely feel as if it were being absorbed rather than merged), but it would be short-term, just like the reaction to the Sharon dress code.

The new school district would have three elementary schools (Farrell building, Musser building, and West Hill building), feeding into a middle school (current FHS) and a high school (current SHS).  All of those buildings have been extensively renovated since 2000 or so, and I believe Musser is the only one operating at capacity.  If additional classroom space were needed, the soon-to-be-abandoned Brookfield Elementary School just a stone's throw from West Hill (and, as everyone knows, actually within the city limits of Sharon) could be purchased by the district and the two schools could be connected with a road or walkway.  In that arrangement, Brookfield could serve grades K-2 and West Hill 3-6.

As an added "bonus" this would allow the current Case and Hadley sites to be redeveloped, to the benefit of the tax base of the landlocked city in which they are located.  The Hadley site would be great for housing and the Case site, right in the State Street strip, could become just about anything.
 
The only potential downside IMO would be the need for busing, but I believe that busing programs are at least partly reimbursed by the state, and--with only 7 square miles between them--Sharon, Farrell, and Wheatland really aren't a lot of ground to cover.  In addition, the mostly tight urban layout of the neighborhoods would only require a relatively small number of drop-off points.

[Jayhawk]

Jim, the problem is that your scenario makes sense, which means these towns will find a way to convince themselves that the illogical, inefficient, expensive status quo makes sense.

[JimV]

Jim, the problem is that your scenario makes sense, which means these towns will find a way to convince themselves that the illogical, inefficient, expensive status quo makes sense.

DAMN!  Well, I tried...

[JimV]

http://www.sharonherald.com/local/local_story_306215157.html?keyword=topstory
 
Could it be that more than a few people are FINALLY starting to get it?   

[GROK]

When I was growing up in Pittsburgh, my school district (Shaler) merged with several adjacent ones (Millvale, Etna and Reserve). It was court ordered for reasons unknown to me. Millvale and Etna were considered the "lower class" areas and I am sure there was trepidation on the part of the Shalerites before the merger. Well from my personal (albeit anectdotal) recollection, things turned out just fine. There will always be a spectrum of different socioeconomic classes in a school district, be it a future Shenango Valley consortium or Beverly Hills (where I am sure there are  even among the "rich"). The important thing is that it probably made my school district stronger in the long haul and more able to offer specialized education (both high and low end) as well as a greater variety of sports and other activities than if they had remained smaller schools.

[GROK]

I agree that Hickory has fallen in it's respectability school-wise. When I first moved to the area, only two school districts were top rated (rating 1 out of 5 with 5 being the worst). I chose the other school district (Wilmington) for my older children at the time and had not regretted it. With that said (and no longer living in that area) , as a taxpayer, I see the benefit financially to consolidating e.g. hopefully lower school taxes. My wife and I plan to home school our child anyhow since public schools are generally poor in these parts and we certainly have the capabilities to give our daughter a top-notch education without the aid of unionized teachers.

[Lifetime]

Sorry if I seem not so sympathetic.... I do see the "tea and crupits" compared to "bread and water" thing again. We went through this same type of CRAP with the Valley View Road Housing and the slope nosed people who didn't want to be touched by the "unwashed".
 
Sharpsville... Hermitage..... what? ?    Give me a break. Our problems are not so much the schools and the "choices" we make.... I remember that people moved to Sharon for the espoused reasons "Hermie" pasted on here.... Homes near good schools, medical facilities and places to work and shop. Some seem to think that the earth just stopped and changes have too. NO community is so pure as to think they can put up Walls against the eb and flow of bad water.... it will happen.
 
Now.... if you want to take care of some of these problems in the schools.... allow the teachers and administeration to have their gonads back.... after that... go to the judicial system and tell them to find theirs as well. We coddle the troublemakers and think it is a good effort to give them 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th OH GOD!!!!! 6th chance and reenter them back into the same sewer that bred them and the unwilling "food source" that is expected to put up with them as they poach off those who try to be good students. When we go to prepare a meal, we cut out the bad parts of the vegetables and or fruit so that the rest is used in a productive manner. Now it seems we want to keep the bad part and all that happens is..... we taint the rest of the meal or the items go to waste totally.
 
Children of our valley.... no matter the community do lose the safety and peace of a learning institution because.... we lost the ability to cull and use the tools we USE to have to make our schools a safe and good place to be.
 
When I was a kid...all one had to tell me was if I didn't shape up.... I would have a trip to GJRR. Now even that carries no clout because of our coddling and PC lifestyle.
 
Our school system is an investment of the whole valley..... not an individual thing. If there are jobs lost in one community...it affects ALL of them.... so... be careful how you want to divide the valley....it sort of sounds like Valley View again.... now THAT is MY HONEST OPINION and I know every one has one ... like everyone has...... well you fill in the blank. Throwing stones while living in a glass house can be awakening.
 
 

[GROK]

Grok in the county that we live in when one reaches 62 you no longer pay school tax.        

How does your local taxing authority know that the owner of a house is truly over 62? I guess I wrongfully assumed that across the USA, the school district portion of property taxes was paid by all land owners regardless of age. My bad 

[GROK]

Well I guess that the taxing authorities must not think a 62+ year old can still go forth, be fruitful and multiply. The Tony Randall's of the world must not congregate in your neck of the woods.
 
On second thought they must not think 44+ year olds propagate either (62 y.o. with 18 y.o. child in high school). That is... if their rationale is a 62 y.o. would not have young enough children to still be in the school system.