Board of Central Dauphin Schoolsdecided to buy three buildings Tuesday night in order to support the district’s full-day kindergarten plan.
In a unanimous vote, the nine-member board agreed to pay roughly $9.4 million for the properties.
The properties include the old AFSCME facility at 4031 Executive Park Drive in Swatara Township, which is valued at $2.1 million, the former office building at 4251 Crums Mill Road in Lower Paxton Township, which is valued at $2.8 million, and the former office building at 75 S. Houcks Road in Lower Paxton Township, which is valued at $4.5 million.
Superintendent Eric Turman announced last month that the district would begin full-day kindergarten, possibly as early as the 2025–2026 academic year.
The only Dauphin County public school district without full-day kindergarten is Central Dauphin. Thirteen elementary schools are run by it.
Full-day kindergarten, according to Turman, will help kids succeed academically, enhance social skills, save transportation costs, and ease scheduling for families, particularly those with working members.
According to projections, the district anticipates enrolling roughly 950 kindergarteners for the 2025–2026 academic year, he said. According to Turman, there will be roughly 21 people in each class.
Turman praised the board for supporting full-day kindergarten during Tuesday’s meeting.
“We know that this is what’s best for our students,” he stated. The board of directors’ confidence in the administration that we will do everything in our power to forward this project is very appreciated.
In addition, the district plans to establish four kindergarten centers and move the administration building.
Ten elementary schools in the district would move their kindergarten pupils to kindergarten centers at the following locations:
According to Turman, kindergarten students in Linglestown, West Hanover, and Middle Paxton would continue to get their full-day education in those institutions.
According to the plan, a new district resource center providing services for kids and their families would be added, and the administration building would move to the Houcks Road building.
Stories by
Sue Gleiter
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