Emotions were running high Wednesday night, as parents and students in the Warren County School District learned about potential consolidation options the district is considering as part of its master facility plan.

Wednesday night’s public meeting sounded like a lot of people aren’t happy about the idea of consolidating *any* of the schools.

It was a packed house as the Warren County School District presented 15 options to reconfigure or consolidate its schools.

They also heard feedback from those who would be impacted, should any of the schools consolidate.

“I think educational-wise it would be good. But like stress-wise, I don’t think a lot of people can deal with that. I can’t,” said Addison Heter, a freshman at Sheffield High School.

“I’m personally on track to be valedictorian, could get scholarships. Moving to a bigger school would take that option away from me,” said Payton Baily, a fellow student.

The Warren County School District is currently the second-largest geographical school district in the state of Pennsylvania, which is raising transportation concerns among parents.

“I cannot imagine bussing my daughter over an hour to school,” said one father that is in the military.

“So, if my kids get shipped to Eisenhower or if something happens, I have to drive all the way to Eisenhower come back but I still will have small children at the elementary school level too if when my son gets up to 9th grade, 10th grade, so being in two different schools 30 to 40 minutes apart, is not conducive to family life,” said Kelly Sullivan, a Youngsville parent.

The district’s superintendent said she and the school board hear and value the community’s concerns, which is why they’re holding public input sessions.

“So, we’re trying to get folks here to problem solve with us. This is not an easy problem to solve in this district, because it’s so large and geographically vast,” said Amy Stewart, superintendent of the Warren County School District.

But in the end, Stewart said the district wants to do what’s best for everyone.

“The board is not prioritizing the financial aspect of this, really their conversations have revolved around a better educational experience for staff and students. And that’s what is driving their decision-making,” Stewart explained.

But many students fear the writing is on the wall, and they fear they’re about to lose the schools, classrooms and teachers they’ve come to know and love.

So, what’s next? Now the board will do a feasibility and cost study on each option.

Once that’s done, parents will have another opportunity to weigh in before the district will pick which option, they think is best.

Then on May 9, the district will explain how they plan to implement whichever option they are going with.