SCRANTON, Pa. — Nine hundred middle school students in Scranton are being sent to different schools Friday morning.
This is the latest aftermath with the ongoing lead and asbestos problem at Northeast Intermediate.
The student body of Northeast Intermediate will be split. Some will go to Westside Intermediate others will go to Southside Intermediate.
Two meetings were held on Thursday night to discuss the breakdown of which students will go where.
Northeast students were allowed to tour their respective schools before they have to report to their first day of classes.
“It's just a new school. I'm afraid like, what if I miss the bus? What if I can't find my classroom? But, they said that there will be teachers and stuff, so, I think I'll be okay,” Sixth-grader Abby Graff said.
Parents believe the line of communication could have been better.
“I'm a little bit on the disgusted side, so to speak. We didn't know about this plan until yesterday. It would've been nice if we were actually included in the plan,” Jennifer Prothero said.
Northeast Intermediate’s student body is being divided like this:
Sixth-grade students will head to West Intermediate.
Seventh-grade students are being split. Green team goes to South and white team goes to West.
Eighth-grade students will be sent to South Intermediate.
Raquel Lemus now has one daughter going to South and another going to West.
“It's going to be a little hectic in the morning, dropping one off over here and one off over at west. They're very attached,” Lemus said.
Some parents Newswatch 16 spoke to said they're leaving this meeting feeling like they have more questions than answers.
“It's great to know that they are getting back in school, so their education is going to be resumed, but it's still frustrating because I'm not sure how it's going to play out,” Brittany Hebron said.
“It's new to everybody, and it's going to be a slow process. Hopefully, the kids adjust well, and they get along with the southsiders, and we have a good time,” Eric Farro said.
The district said that regular education students should get to their bus stops 15 minutes earlier than usual on Friday morning.
Special education students, however, will have the same pickup time.