The Rush Elementary School in Hometown, one of three elementary facilities owned by the Tamaqua Area School District, will undergo its second major change in use in the last five years.

On Tuesday night, the Tamaqua Board of Education voted unanimously, with two members (Mark Rother and Thomas Rottet) absent, to lease the building to Behavioral Health Associates of Lehighton.The lease agreement will be for a five-year term.The vote came during a special meeting of the board, held after the regular committee meeting and a 95-minute executive session.Tamaqua Superintendent Carol Makuta said the building has been showing signs of wear and tear."It is no longer economically feasible to keep using the facility when there are other options available. I'm trying to improve things for all of our students, staff and taxpayers," Makuta said.Moving the studentsKindergarten and first-grade students will begin the 2015-16 school year attending Tamaqua Elementary School. Students in the gifted and English as a second language classes at Tamaqua Elementary will be transferred to the West Penn Elementary School.When asked about how those students would be transported to West Penn, either directly from their homes or if they would be bused to the Tamaqua Elementary School, then transferred to another bus for the additional 10-12 miles, Makuta said, "Those logistics haven't been decided yet."The superintendent said there are 41 students in the gifted program in grades three through five and another 18 students in the ESL program.Students in the gifted program currently spend one hour during the six-day class cycle participating in gifted activities.As to whether parents would consider that one hour to be worth the extra bus time and separating their children from their friends, Makuta said she "anticipates that gifted students will have more such instruction time with the change."Board President Larry Wittig agreed. "What to do with Rush Elementary School has been a topic of discussion for the last five years. We need to find a way to maximize the use of the building. We also have to look at the financial responsibilities," he said.Any possible staffing cuts are still to be determined.Not the first changeIn 2010, the district created a K-1 Primary Center at Rush, accommodating kindergarten and first-grade students, instead of kindergarten through fifth grade.The move was unpopular with parents, who worried about their children riding buses longer than necessary as well as possible increases in class sizes.More than 50 parents attended a meeting that April to express their displeasure and concerns with the move, including what some saw as "secrecy" in the way the issue was brought to the public's attention.At that time, Makuta proposed the change, saying, "The positives of creating a K-1 Primary Center at Rush include allowing for grade and age appropriate planning, optimizing class size, providing a better atmosphere for collaboration for Rush teachers, and improving the curriculum. Rush Elementary would also become eligible for federal Title I program spending, which is based on poverty guidelines and could boost the school's educational programs." She viewed such a center "as a nurturing environment."But the fate of the building continued to be a topic of discussion between administrators and board members, mostly due to the administration's search on how to best utilize the school, which is the smallest of the district's three elementary schools. In addition to kindergarten and first-grade classes, Schuylkill Intermediate Unit 29 and the district hold some special education classes at Rush.But even then, the number of students attending Rush doesn't come close to the building's capacity of 300.About Behavioral HealthBHA offers alternative educational programs for students with behavioral and special needs issues, including students who have been expelled from their home schools. The company will turn the Rush building into a start-up school for such students in kindergarten through 12th grade.In the initial year, Makuta expects the school to provide services to 40 to 45 students, including several from the Tamaqua district, with the others hailing from surrounding areas serviced by BHA.Although Tuesday night's vote was to approve the lease, contracts have not been signed, so Witting would not release a figure."The agreement will be for a significant amount," Wittig said.