The first two in a series of required public meetings over planned school closures this summer will take place tonight at Franklin and Shull-David Elementary in Lehighton Area School District.

Both sessions last 75 minutes, with Franklin’s event running from 5-6:15 p.m. and Shull-David’s from 6:30-7:45 p.m. Each meeting is being held in the multipurpose rooms of the respective schools.

“Any time a district proposes closing a school, the state requires a public hearing associated with that,” Lehighton Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver said. “We tried to schedule the sessions to coincide with parent teacher organization meetings in the schools thinking it may encourage more people to attend if they are already at the buildings. There will be a lot of public information displayed as we move forward with our transition from four elementary schools to one elementary center.”

Lehighton plans to open its $33 million elementary center, located adjacent to the high school, for the start of the 2018-19 school year. With it comes the closing of the four existing elementary schools; Franklin, Shull-David, East Penn and Mahoning.

Public meetings are scheduled for Mahoning on Wednesday from 5-6:15 p.m. and later that night at East Penn from 6:30-7:45 p.m.

The fate of half of the soon-to-be-closed elementary schools is already decided.

Mahoning and East Penn schools sold for $350,000 each at a Nov. 1 auction.

Duane and Lavona Schleicher won the bidding for East Penn Elementary.

“We’re planning an adult living complex, a retirement type of home,” Duane said following the auction.

Behavioral Health Associates will be the future owner of Mahoning Elementary.

Executive Director Richard Caffery said BHA will keep it as a school and use it for multiple programs.

“I don’t think it’s a matter of closing one of our buildings and moving it to Mahoning,” he said. “We have some programs we’re looking to move in there. We had been looking for a place to expand and when this became available, it was a natural fit.”

Lehighton’s school board approved getting appraisals on Franklin and Shull-David elementary schools in November at a maximum cost of $4,000 per property.

“There has been interest in Franklin, but the board hasn’t decided anything at this point,” Lehighton solicitor William Schwab said during a board meeting last month.

The district also scheduled a public meeting Thursday night at the middle school from 6-7:15 p.m. in the auditorium. Because the school isn’t closing, the state doesn’t require the session, but Cleaver said it could be helpful due to a grade realignment.

“In conjunction with the new elementary center, the district is moving fifth grade from the middle school to that building, so that is why the meeting at the middle school was scheduled,” he said.

Following the hearings, according to the state, three months must pass before the board can formally vote to close the elementary schools.