WILKES-BARRE -- School officials in Wilkes-Barre say major changes are coming to the city's high schools. The superintendent said two of the district's three high schools are too expensive to repair.
Wilkes-Barre Area school board members gathered Wednesday night to present a report addressing what the future may look like for the city's high schools.
The halls of Coughlin High School on North Washington Street in Wilkes-Barre hold more than a century of memories.
But school district officials say the building is also showing a century of wear and tear.
The school opened back in 1909. There is now a fence and scaffolding up to protect students from the crumbling facade.
A new report more than 500 pages long lists problems at Coughlin and at Meyers High School and outlines options for the future.
"Trying to take 100-year-old buildings that haven't been addressed and move this district into the future," said Wilkes-Barre Area superintendent Dr. Bernard Prevuznak.
School officials say the cost of renovating Coughlin and Meyers is prohibitive- around $200 million.
According to officials, the least expensive alternative may be building one consolidated high school, but another possibility is tearing down Coughlin and Meyers and rebuilding in the same locations.
Another option is buying new properties and building new schools there.
"Hours upon hours we spent on this, with the architects, touring buildings, touring other schools, touring these particular buildings," said Ned Evans, school board member.
Angel Mathis of Wilkes-Barre welcomes the news. She says she took her daughter out of the district because the age of the buildings was making her health problems worse.
"Honestly, I think it is time that they built new schools, because I have lived in the area for more than 20 years and these are the same old schools that we had, while other districts have built new schools," Mathis said.
But other people say Wilkes-Barre needs to preserve its history.
"I think we have some beautiful buildings down here and I think perhaps this might be an opportunity to start to save what we have," said Cecilia Williams of Wilkes-Barre.
The next step is to form two committees. One will be for the public and the other for district employees. They will look at the report and deliberate the options starting next month.
There's no word when they expect to make a decision.
The Wilkes-Barre Area superintendent says he does not know how it will all be financed, but a bond is a likely possibility.