As long as the state legislature is dominated by the Republicans, they will never mandate consolidation. These types of things are political third rails, anyhow. Most of these very small school districts are in solidly red communities.
OT: WPIAL HS Sports are a mess
- Thread starter Fk_Pitt
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That’s why I think you take these small suburban schools and merge them with a nearby large “urban”
guess which areas are used to doing more with less ?
In the east there were far more township districts due to rural jurisdictions. Here in the west, the districts have been Borough-based due to the more urbanized, industrial culture. When sprawl destroyed large swaths of the eastern ag lands, those school districts merged in the 80's because they had tons of money and few students.
Here in the west, there has been slow and constant consolidation happening since the 90's and it will continue. Comparing the 2 sides of the commonwealth is just ignorant.
Another issue is that tons of kids out here are ditching public schools for homeschooling and small private schools with no PIAA affiliation. This along with political instability make merging borough-based districts very difficult. Combining 2 township districts is pretty easy once union interference gets squashed.
Here in the west, there has been slow and constant consolidation happening since the 90's and it will continue. Comparing the 2 sides of the commonwealth is just ignorant.
Another issue is that tons of kids out here are ditching public schools for homeschooling and small private schools with no PIAA affiliation. This along with political instability make merging borough-based districts very difficult. Combining 2 township districts is pretty easy once union interference gets squashed.
as crazy as it sounds, they'd probably do very well playing against 5A and even 6a schools. I know that's crazy but didnt they just win states at the 4a level.
They keep getting punished so it’s a matter of time before the piaa in their wisdom maybe 1a quips play 5a
Which is ridiculous. At some point the season would catch up with them. But they rolled through 4A so…
In all seriousness, at some point Aliquippa would start seeing significant injuries if they played 6A schools. They have their studs, but they also have smaller kids filling in on the lines. PCC, for all of the angst that they create, probably averages 275 on both of their lines. I would bet Quip has at least some linemen that are 200 pounds.
Meanwhile, schools like Greensburg Central Catholic can sit in 1A soccer, win a majority of their games by 5+ goals, and the WPIAL does nothing. It’s a joke organization
I don't think many districts will be looking to merge with Pittsburgh city schools. More likely that the suburban districts are forced to greatly consolidate.
Or do it like they do in other states and just make the entire county a district. There are drawbacks there but if you want maximum efficiency, that is probably the way to do it.
The problem with a transient community like Aliquippa with a lot of renters, you have many "transfers". The other thing, you have such connected families in the Ohio Valley (think an urban version of West Virginia) you have a really good athlete deciding to live with an aunt or uncle or grandma and playing football for Aliquippa instead of Rochester or Ambridge.
I didn’t mean pps
With so many going to private or charter schools - the magnet process works well enough
Is that true? That's preposterous! How many of them were D-1 prospects, do you know?
None. I watched them on TV and they were just huge fat guys who couldn't move but enough to do well in 4A football
I haven't gone through the whole thread yet so if someone else has pointed this out I apologize, but maybe a month or two ago the mayor of Jeannette wondered out loud as to why their school district didn't merge with Hempfield, and the local populous went batshit crazy.
Because to way too many of the people who live there, Jeanette Jayhawks football (and to a lesser extent basketball) means way more than kids getting a decent education.
Oddly enough, this year they are in the same class (and section) in football for the first time in a long time (in fact they are playing each other tonight), but they are now in different classes in soccer.
For the love of god, NIMBY has no political party!
To get to one high school, football had to stay in Turtle Creek. Tradition dies hard.
That is the main reason why Monessen and Clairton would fight a merger. Monessen basketball and Clairton football are too important
You realize state college and Altoona are in the top district 3 league with CV, CD, Carlisle, Chambersburg, Harrisburg?
state college still made state playoffs despite finishing 5th in the league , yet teams above of them did not, because they get in thru district 6 , it’s a joke
Yea, I doubt that, Souf said HS kids will die if they have to bus 2-3 hours a couple times per year.
Yea and it’s awful for all concerned , I’m in my 39th season coaching a high school sport, I only have to go to mifflin and state college 1-2 times a year , sometimes none, sometimes 4 times. Did it this year on a monday/Wednesday the same week , real nice time, NOT, but they have to come south a lot more
it sucks, kids getting home at 1am for basketball swimming , or volleyball
luckily mine start at 4 so it’s only 9-10 pm
it was all created for football and they the least affected
They should absolutely only be doing this for football. No reason to bus that many hours for other sports, where you can play smaller local schools where, though you still have an advantage, that advantage is mitigated some by the number of players the small school needs to compete. 7-8 in basketall. 4-5 good ones for volleyball, etc.
Very true, but just pointing out the local politics at work.
This issue: considered bad by the locals.
The political affiliation of the locals: red, for the most part. Small, depressed areas usually are these days.
State legislature: red
Why would the group currently in control, do something to piss off the people who put them in control? They shouldn't, and they won't.
All I'm trying to say.
Yeah, State College has been in the Mid-Penn for almost 20 years. Altoona, too, if you don’t include their brief stay in the WPIAL ten or so years ago.
It’s tough for those schools just because they’re so much bigger than pretty much all of their geographic peers. No real easy travel solutions there if they want to play schools anything close to their size.
Yea, they arent close to any large schools. District 3 has 17 6A schools. They dont need Altoona, SC, and Mifflin. Those 3 and Williamsport, McDowell, and Erie should all be in the WPIAL for football only. They could play the title game at Acrisure and the winner would advance to the state semis vs the District 3 champ.
They already pretty much do that, though. Those schools are in the Mid-Penn (part of D3), but they’re in D6 and go through that playoff. When the regular season ends, they go and play the D6/D10/City League super region, and the winner of that plays the WPIAL winner in the state quarterfinals. That winner plays the D3 winner in the state semi. https://www.easternpafootball.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/6A-Statre-Tournament-2022.jpg
So it’s just about who they want to play in the regular season, and they feel like they fit better with the Harrisburg schools.
Why would anyone in a good district want to merge a worse district into theirs? That's the root of the issue.
Monessen offers -
Trig
Calc 1
Calc 2
AP English 11
AP English 12
AP Physics
AP Psychology
Extracurriculars
Football
Soccer
Baseball
Softball
Basketball
Track
Cheerleading
Chorus
Band
Theatre
Marching/Concert Band
Music/Fine Arts
Visual Media
Not to shabby for a school that graduates around 50-70 kids/year
I wish they would have fought a lot harder. The Woody Hills merger has been a disaster for every community involved. A generation ago, prior to the Woodland Hills merger, there were nice neighborhoods in the east end.
Yea but its stupid for those schools to bus 2-3 hours east to play in a league which has more than enough teams when they can bus 2-3 hours west and play in a league which doesn't have enough teams.
Yes and I’ve alluded to this several times, specifically with tj and Clairton. Yet sone on here don’t speak of the elephdd as my in the room.
Why would you possibly want your school district to merge with Johnstown? That would be the worst thing for the children in your borough and for you as a taxpayer.
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