Community members expressed concern during a Conewago Valley School District meeting on Monday when district administration said a data point used for enrollment projections was mistakenly calculated. The corrected data is being run, and the district does not anticipate a large shift in projections.
The school board held a back-to-back feasibility study and study session on Monday. The feasibility study was live-streamed and multiple community members voiced frustration with the faulty data and PowerSchool (formerly DecisionInsite.)
Conewago Valley contracted with architectural firm Crabtree, Rorhbaugh & Associates as well as DecisionInsite in 2021 in order to gather information to make a decision regarding its facilities. The board’s history with its feasibility study has been documented by the district here.
The board originally faced four options: upgrading its existing buildings, renovating select buildings and installing a single K-3 school, building a new K-3 and renovating New Oxford Elementary School, or doing nothing.
Superintendent Sharon Perry said the board quickly indicated it intends to make some form of improvements to the facilities, leaving the district with the three renovation or rebuilding options.
During the feasibility study, Perry said DecisionInsite had used some incorrect figures related to anticipated residential development.
Some of the figures were corrected when township and municipality representatives pointed out the overestimated numbers.
On Thursday, Perry told the Gettysburg Connection that while the board needs accurate data, new residential developments are only one data point.
PowerSchool is working on incorporating the corrected data and will send the new projections to Conewago Valley School District. The board will soon have the updated information to work with, but as Perry pointed out, even with the number of new building projects needing to be corrected, PowerSchool’s enrollment projections were still close to what the school district and Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates projected. There may not be a large shift in enrollment projections.
Conewago Valley posted an analysis of the enrollment report on Thursday.
The past year and a half of data-gathering and discussion is beginning to pay off and the district may soon begin to narrow down its choices.
“I think we’re close to the board getting rid of an option,” Perry said on Thursday.
The board held a study session following the feasibility study.
Study sessions are not typically live-streamed unless the board plans to discuss issues such as feasibility studies. Perry said the board discussed the Adams County Technical Institute budget, its preliminary 2024-25 district budget, a technical plan that includes devices for teachers and adults, updates for the Conewago Valley website, and more.
The board did not focus on the topic of district facilities during the study session, according to Perry.
A regular public meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the district board room.
The board will also have a special meeting to focus on the feasibility study at 6 p.m. Monday, April 24. That meeting will be held in the district auditorium.
Imari Scarbrough is a freelance journalist. She was a staff newspaper reporter for five years before becoming a freelancer in 2017. She has written on crime, environmental issues, severe weather events, local and regional government and more.
You can visit her website at ImariJournal.com.