Boyertown School Board voted 5-4 on May 14th to kick-off the process of closing Pine Forge.

A  public hearing is still required by state before anything is final.

The district is closing the school to save money, but some are worried that closing the school will lead to problems.

“Closing Pine forge will create student overcrowding, which will become a districtwide issue, not just an isolated issue in one or two schools,” Jen Irey, a concerned citizen who spoke at the meeting, said.

She, like others, are worried that pushing the students into other schools around the district will make things harder in the classroom and provide less opportunities for the teachers to focus attention one-on-one with the students considering the higher number.

Krista Gross, a parent of three children in the district said, “What is disheartening to me, is that after sitting through all these meetings, I still have not heard any of the long-term plans laid out.” 

This statement has showed the concern of a mother, that like many other parents, is worried about what will be happening to their children’s education. The reason this is of high importance, is because it recognizes the problem with Pine Forge that has been occurring for months now. Closing this elementary school was brought to public attention long ago, and nothing was on its way to being finalized until now.

“I don’t know if everyone realizes how dire our financial situation is. It’s really bad,” said board meeting attendee,  Jon Emeigh.

It will cost $16 million dollars to keep the school open over the next thirty years.

Yet, aside from the financial and political issues of shutting down Pine Forge, comes the emotional damage caused on students and their families. Imagine how scary changing schools, seeing all new faces, and being around many more people than their used to can feel like to a young child. And if it weren’t for the worried families, closing the school wouldn’t have been as big of a concern in the first place.

“Imagine a building full of unfamiliar faces.” said Ellen Martignetti, attendee of the board meeting.