Penn Hills School Board will hold a public hearing next Monday to receive input on how the school district should be configured for the 2008-09 school year and in future years.

The hearing will run from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Linton Middle School, 250 Aster St.

Donald Boyer, consultant for Education Management Group, presented his firm's school utilization study at Tuesday's school board meeting.

His presentation included four options for reconfiguring schools for the 2008-09 school year.

Education Management Group is recommending the district approve having kindergarten through grade two at Washington Elementary School and Forbes or Shenandoah elementaries; grades two through four at Penn Hebron Elementary Academy; grades five through eight at Linton Middle School; grade nine at Dible Elementary School; and grades 10 through 12 at the high school, which would not see a change.

This configuration is recommended because it would be the least disruptive and most age-appropriate arrangement, would not require construction and would be less complicated to address staff issues, Boyer said.

The district would save about $1.2 million next year, based on a conservative estimate, which doesn't include transportation savings. New bus routes would have to be created, he said.

The goal of the school utilization study is to design more cost-effective use of facilities, improve use of staff and establish equity in the schools, Boyer said.

The district has lost 830 students since the 2002-03 school year. That number of students is higher than the population of the 15th smallest school district in the state, Boyer said.

A low birth rate and competition from charter and parochial schools are contributing to the loss of student population, he said.

The school utilization study shows about 63 percent of babies born to Penn Hills residents are later enrolled in kindergarten and about 71 percent of babies born to Penn Hills residents are enrolled in first grade in the district.

As a result of concerns regarding current and future student population, the school board needs to decide whether to keep the vocational education program at the high school, where to place ninth and fifth grades and the size of classes, Boyer said.

The district also needs to address the issue that classes in elementary schools are too large and classes at the middle and high schools are too small, he said.

Boyer said he will send a report to the district with background information to help it make its decisions.

School board member Joseph Bailey said there has not been good management of the district, which needs an actual curriculum and to make sure all students are proficient.

Erin Vecchio, school board president, said the district needs to attract people to Penn Hills by making improvements to what it has.

Residents who have questions about the school utilization study can send e-mail to Teresita Kolenchak, district spokeswoman, at "a href="mailto:tkolen@phsd.k12.pa.us">tkolen@phsd.k12.pa.us or call her at 412-793-7000, ext. 255.

Questions and their answers will be posted to the district's Web site at www.phsd.k12.pa.us [1]