The required public hearing on the future setup of the Conneaut School District is set for Monday, Jan. 30, beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Linesville High School gymatorium.

Three options will be reviewed after which the school directors will take questions and comment on proposed changes in the setup of district schools with a look to budget concerns, curriculum offerings, transportation matters and facilities use.

The hearing is not a debate with the school directors but a question/comment period for the public to hear the three options being looked at and to allow the school directors a chance to gather questions from the public and respond at a later time.

Following the hearing the school directors must wait 90 days, as required by state law, before voting on options.

That will bring the decision time to late April.

The official legal notice regarding the hearing reads:

"In accordance with the provisions of the Public School Code of 1949, as amended, 24 P.S. §7- 780, notice is hereby given of a public hearing on the proposed reconfiguration of grades within the schools of the Conneaut School District, beginning at the start of the 2012-2013 school year.

Three reconfiguration options for the grades in the district buildings will be proposed. The first option includes grades K-4 at Conneaut Valley Elementary and Conneaut Lake Elementary, grades 5-8 at both Conneaut Valley and Conneaut Lake Middle Schools, and a grade 9-12 complex at what is presently the District’s Linesville campus.

The second option includes maintaining the current grade configurations, grades K-6, in all current district elementary buildings, grades 7-9 at Conneaut Lake Middle School, grades 10-12 at Linesville High School, and the closure of Conneaut Valley High School.

The third option includes grades K-5 in all current district elementary buildings, grades 6-12 in all current district middle-high schools, modification to a 4-day week with resultant savings, and pay-to-play for all student activities.

The hearing will be held on Monday, January 30, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Linesville High School, 302 West School Drive, Linesville, PA 16424 before the Board of School Directors of the Conneaut School District."

Option 3 is closest to the current setup of grades K - 6 in three elementary and grades 7 - 12 in three high schools in terms of students in buildings. Option 3 includes a look at a 4-day school week and students paying to take part in any of the school extra-curricular activities.

It is not an option looked at by the Better Use of School Space Committees rather an option suggested by board member Dr. Carol Bocan who offered to make the presentation regarding the plan.

Should the three options noted above fail to pass in the April vote, the schools and grades would stay as they are currently setup.

As noted many times in recent issues the look at a re-organized setup in the school district is driven by a projected $5-million deficit by the year 2014/15 if things remain unchanged and many programs and activities would need to be cut based on the declining enrollment in the area, flat state support, and stagnant real estate values among items including ever increasing costs.

The district is down to 175 teachers from a high of 216 several years ago and also two less administrators.

Student numbers have declined by nearly 800 in the past 10 years.

The school directors met in an extra work session last Tuesday, Jan. 17, and heard comments from persons representing transportation and curriculum committees. About 30 were in attendance from the public and committees plus board members Jody Sperry, Dr. Walter Thomas, Gina McCauley, Don Ellis, Jr., and David Schaef. Absent were Brian Boyce, Kathy Hootman, Lorri Drumm and Dr. Carol Bocan.

As noted, should no change be made in the current school district setup, the setup projects a $5-million plus deficit by 2014/15. Option 1 of a single high school for grades 9 - 12 at the Linesville School campus, two elementary schools at Conneaut Valley and Conneaut Lake and two middle schools at Lake and Valley, a fund balance of just over $267,000 is projected;

Option 2 of keeping the three elementary K - 6 schools, having grades 7 - 9 at Conneaut Lake, and having a grades 10 -12 school at Linesville projects a fund balance of over $1.2 million.

The third option of K - 5 schools and grades 6 - 12 at the current three high schools was not discussed by the BUSS Committees and thus does not have a projected fund balance/deficit like the others do.

In recent action by the school directors, a grant application by Conneaut Valley High School for a PHEAA CAP grant for career oriented exposure and creating access to post secondary school in the amount of $9,000 through Edinboro University was approved.

The directors approved an administration request to work with PennCREST School District to look in an alternative fuel option that might allow busses to run on natural gas.

Four retirement requests were approved to be effective the end of this school year. Retirement requests were put in by William Agnes at CLE, Nina Joslin at CVHS, Richard Krankota at LHS, currently on military duty, and Kathy Noble at CVHS.

Among fund-raising requests okayed were Mrs. Pollard's CLE 6th grade and Linesville's Schafer School students to bring in Pennies for Patients which will be donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society; Conneaut Valley Yearbook Club to sell Club's Choice food items to help pay for yearbook publishing; Conneaut Lake Elementary School PTO to conduct a Sarris Candy Sale to raise funds for PTO activities; Linesville Music Boosters to sell C & C Tours frozen food items and sell subs with proceeds to help fund booster club expenses; Linesville High School Basketball Cheerleader parents to solicit donations from local businesses and raffle off a basket full of the donations during home BB games to help pay for wind suits.