Jim Thorpe Area School District is surveying parents and guardians on how to address $48 million in needed facility upgrades, identified through a feasibility study, after taxpayers rejected the most expensive option in an initial poll.

The feasibility study, conducted by EI Associates, examined enrollment trends and facility conditions across the district’s three school buildings. Enrollment has declined from a peak of 2,197 students in 2012-13 to 1,686 students in 2024-25.

District officials initially presented five options to taxpayers, ranging from $36.6 million to $65.7 million in total project costs. Based on that feedback, the school board eliminated option three — building a new K-3 school — from further consideration.

“The taxpayers, overwhelmingly, were not in favor of that,” Superintendent Robert Presley told the board at its January meeting. “That option is no longer being considered.”

Currently, K-8 students in the district attend either Penn Kidder or L.B. Morris depending on where they live. The high school serves grades 9-12.

The eliminated option, labeled number 3, would have cost $65.7 million and involved closing Penn-Kidder Elementary, constructing a new K-3 school, realigning grades at L.B. Morris Elementary and renovating the high school.

Options remaining

Four options remain under consideration.

Option one, the status quo, would maintain all three buildings with rank one and two renovations and additions where needed, costing $47.4 million. After $1.27 million in operational expense savings, the annual net cost would be $2.03 million.

“We categorize deficiencies by site, exterior, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and also the cost per square foot,” Bruce Christman of EI Associates said during a presentation to the board in April 2025. “We also looked at safety, security, code, and miscellaneous upgrades. Then we rank those from rank one to rank four, with rank one being, hair on fire, we have to get this done.”

According to the April presentation, “Rank 1 and Rank 2” issues account for the most pressing needs, with Rank 2 representing over $21 million in repairs.

The buildings with the largest deficiencies per square foot were LB Morris at approximately $88, the high school at $74, and Penn Kidder at $125 per square foot.

Option two involves renovations and additions at all three buildings without closing any facilities, totaling $39.6 million with an annual net cost of $2.69 million.

Option 4a would close Penn-Kidder, move all K-6 students to LB Morris, while all students in 7-12 would attend the high school. This option would cost $36.6 million, save $435,000 in operational expenses annually, resulting in a net annual cost of $2.07 million.

Option 4B involves converting Penn Kidder and LB Morris into K-6 schools and relocating 7th and 8th grade students to the high school.

The total cost would be $43.1 million with an annual net cost of $2.61 million.

Survey says

Jim Thorpe’s latest survey will be sent to parents through email accounts associated with their students’ school accounts. District officials are asking families to complete only one survey per household.

“We really need parents’ opinions and thoughts on how best to handle this educationally and fiscally,” Presley said.

The district is also pursuing grant funding to help offset costs. Officials are applying for two grants — one for facilities improvements that would require a 25% match, and another through the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency for school safety and security worth $136,000 with no matching requirement.

“We’re looking at which projects we might want to do with that one,” Presley said of the facilities improvement grant.