Penn Hills School Board likely will vote next week on reconfiguring schools.

The meeting's date, time and location were not available at presstime. The information will be posted to the school district's Web site at www.phsd.k12.pa.us [1]

Erin Vecchio, president, said the board is expected to vote on a new configuration.

Education Management Group (EMG), which completed a school utilization study, 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.

The goals of the study were to design more cost-effective use of facilities, improve use of staff and establish equity in the schools, according to Donald Boyer, consultant for EMG.

The school board also is considering not changing grade configurations at the high school and middle school, closing William Penn and Shenandoah elementaries and having fourth and fifth grades at Penn Hebron Elementary Academy, Vecchio said.

The board took comments from residents on Monday during a special meeting at Linton.

Residents and students who spoke objected to moving students as proposed in the EMG reconfiguration plan, eliminating the vocational education program at the high school and changing how the schools are configured.

Resident Tonya Royal said the district has no reason to move grades around because the change would be a smokescreen to cover the district's lack of a set curriculum.

Resident Dirk Page said Dible should not become the ninth-grade school because the school has no lockers and the wrong size of furniture.

Taylor Ray-Jetter, an eighth-grade student, objected to the prospect of attending Dible next year, saying the change only would cause chaos.

Resident Jane Marra suggested Dible, Washington and Forbes elementaries have kindergarten through fourth grades, Penn Hebron have fifth and sixth grades and Linton have seventh through ninth, with no changes for the high school.

The district needs to do what is best for the students and get back to educating them, Marra said.

Resident Julie Martin said she doesn't see how the district could make such changes over the summer.

The EMG plan would move children away from their families, friends and teachers, she said.

Resident Natalie Merola questioned how parents would be able to volunteer and participate in activities if their children were enrolled at two elementaries.

Denise Colton, a Penn Hills High School junior, said the district needs to keep in mind that if the vo-tech program is eliminated, students will not be guaranteed enrollment at Forbes Road Career & Technology Center in the fall.

She plans to obtain her cosmetology license next year to help pay for college.

Marcia Gouch, an auto technology instructional aide at the high school, said cutting the auto technology program would be a terrible loss.

The program's students save teachers time by fixing their cars, she said.

Students have fixed her car in a few hours after she had it in a shop all summer without being repaired, she said.

Gouch said the district and students also would lose a wonderful teacher, Michael Sikorski, a Teacher of Excellence award winner for 2007-08 who gives up his time to work with students during prep time, lunch, study hall and personal time.

Jordan Sommerfeld, a high school senior, agreed that Sikorski is an asset to the district who is a motivator for students.

Jordan objected to sending vo-tech students to Forbes Road.