SCRANTON, Pa. — As parents picked up their children outside of Charles Sumner Elementary School, the talk amongst them was about the future of the school.
During Monday night's school board meeting, the district's chief recovery officer laid out a proposed two-phase plan to consolidate some of the schools.
The first phase would be to close Charles Sumner and move those students to either Isaac Tripp Elementary or Frances Willard Elementary.
Students from John Adams Elementary would also be moving to Neil Armstrong elementary. If the board votes in favor, students could be going to a new school next year.
"They are so attached to their friends and the teachers, and they're going to, you know, a new school probably next year, and they're not going to be able to have their friends that they know that they've known since kindergarten," said Christina Knitter, Scranton.
"They've already shut down so many schools and had the fifth graders go to the middle school when there's barely any room as it is. They're just pushing more and more students in one area," said Miarose Martin, Scranton.
Phase two of the plan would also consolidate William Prescott into Robert Morris.
Many parents say class size is one of the biggest issues they have with the consolidation and what it could mean for their children's education.
"I think more kids are going to fall through the cracks. If there's more kids in a class. There's one teacher; I don't even know how many kids are in his class. But if you're going to add 30 Kids, somebody is going to fall through the cracks," said Sarah Evans, Scranton.
Getting their kids to school would also change for some parents. With the proposed changes, many students would have a long way to get to their new school.
"They don't have transportation, they can walk their kids to that school, and now they'll have to find a way to do that, which would be more complicated," said Angelica Velazquez, Scranton.
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