BLOSSBURG, Pa. (WENY) -- The Southern Tioga School District Board of Education met Monday night, and on the agenda was a vote about future plans for the consolidation or improvement of schools in the district.

The Southern Tioga School District is currently made up of five schools.  Liberty Elementary, Blossburg Elementary, and Warren L. Miller Elementary are all K-6 schools.  North Penn Liberty and North Penn Mansfield are Junior/Senior High Schools.  According to the district, Liberty Elementary, Blossburg Elementary and North Penn Liberty High School are all under 60% student capacity.  Warren L. Miller Elementary is running at 74% student capacity, and North Penn Mansfield High School is at 102% student capacity.

The Southern Tioga School District proposed two plans for the future of the schools.  The 'Condensed Campus Plan' involves dropping the number of schools in the district from five to three.  The district says under this plan, Warren L. Miller would be realigned for children in grades K-5, North Penn Liberty would be realigned and renovated for children in grades K-5, and a proposed Blossburg School would be a new construction building for grades 6-12.  The probable cost for this plan is $89.2 mil.

The infrastructure improvement plan proposed updating the existing five schools in the district.  According to the district, improvements to features like parking, windows, technology, plumbing, and more would be addressed.  This plan has a probable cost of $89 mil.

The board said that tax payer dollars would be used to fund these projects, so they want to make the best decision for the community.  The motion proposed Monday night detailed "proceeding with the next steps in furtherance of Option 2, the "Condensed Campus Plan" as described in the presentation of Alloy5 on March 4, 2024, as well as proceed with next steps in furtherance of the infrastructure improvement plan with a spending cap of 40 million dollars.”

"Consolidating the high school is to increase the equity and equality for our students education. Its not about shiny, its about bringing everybody under one roof," said Superintendent Sam Rotella.

After a lengthy discussion, the board voted to pass the motion in a 9-0 vote.  Rotella said the vote is furthering the plans to see if consolidation is feasible and within budget, and the vote will come up again at next month's meeting.  According to the school board's timeline, the project will be completed by 2027.  The Southern Tioga School District's full set of plans can be found in the document below.