Primary school buildings in the New Kensington-Arnold School District could look different in two years.

According to Superintendent Christopher Sefcheck, the school board’s Education Committee will meet next week to consider a plan that would place:

• kindergarten and first grade at Martin Elementary;

• second and third grades at H.D. Berkey;

• make Roy A. Hunt a fourth through sixth grade building.

“We’re still in the discussion phase, and we’re carefully evaluating and trying to make sure we do what’s best for students and the community,” said school board President Jane Graham. “There’s many layers to this. We want to be thoughtful, and we want to be thorough.”

Currently, Martin is kindergarten only, H.D. Berkey houses first and second graders and Roy A. Hunt has students from third through sixth grades.

The committee will meet at 6 p.m. Jan 21 at the Valley Jr.-Sr. High Board Room, 703 Stevenson Blvd.

If there is consensus, the matter will be placed on a February school board meeting agenda to start the process of realignment, Sefcheck said.

If approved, realignment would n0t take place until the 2027-28 school year, he said.

Graham encouraged the community to attend next week’s meeting.

“We want to hear what they have to say,” she said. “We want them to be a part of the conversation. As a school board, we’re elected to advocate and speak for the community, and the best way to do that is to have community involvement.”

Sefcheck believes the reconfiguration has academic benefits for students.

Students in kindergarten and first grade would be able to share resources, such as reading and math specialists, he said.

“The transition from kindergarten to first grade is instrumental to their educational path,” he said.

Students would also be more familiar with school, Sefcheck said.

“There will be more consistency,” he said.

Sefcheck also anticipates there will be better preparation for state assessment tests among the older elementary students by having second and third grades in the same building.

Graham said she would need more information about the plan before sharing where she stands on it.

“It’s important that whatever we do is best educationally, emotionally and mentally for students,” Graham said. “That’s where I stand, first and foremost, that whatever steps we take are the best for students, and we do our due diligence in advocating for them.”

As someone with a background in early childhood education, Graham is intrigued by the opportunity to keep kindergarten and first grade in the same building because of the transition at a young age.

“In my personal opinion, I can see benefit to spending two years there,” she said.

Longevity of a reconfiguration plan is also important to Graham.

“I want to make sure that whatever change we make is for the community for years to come,” she said.

If the buildings are realigned, six to eight additional classrooms at Martin would have to be built, Sefcheck said. There would be no major renovations to Berkey or Hunt.

Sefcheck does not anticipate any staff hirings or reductions because of the realignment. Staff would be reorganized to meet student needs and enrollment trends where appropriate, he said.

“We’re in the very beginning phases of this,” said Hunt Principal Jeff Thimons.

Thimons said he, Martin Principal Angela Manchini and Berkey Principal Brian Heidenreich met earlier this week to discuss the proposal and go over the needs of each school if the reconfiguration moves forward.

One concern Thimons has heard is staff movement. Things work well currently at Hunt, but he’s also looking at the districtwide picture.

“I’m for whatever’s going to be the best education for our students K-6,” Thimons said. “I’m listening to all teachers’ concerns, administration, and putting it all together.”

Thimons also noted a district realignment about a decade ago that’s still fresh in some people’s minds.

In 2014, school officials closed Fort Crawford and Greenwald elementary schools when moving to the district’s current configuration.

New Kensington-Arnold is not the first area school district juggling or recently implementing grade reconfigurations with younger students.

Burrell School District elected to close Stewart Elementary School at the end of the 2024-25 school year because of declining enrollment, finances and in an effort to better meet student needs. It sent fourth grade students to Bon Air Elementary, while fifth grade joined sixth, seventh and eighth grade students at Charles A. Huston Middle School.

In November, the Shaler Area School Board moved forward with a reconfiguration plan that creates four elementary schools to house kindergarten through fifth grade, and tabs Shaler Area Middle School to house grades six through eight. Officials said at the time the plan’s aim was to strengthen academic programming and better support student learning.

That same month, the Pittsburgh Public Schools’ board of education shot down a reconfiguration plan that would have shuttered nine school buildings as part of a consolidation.

And this school year is the last for five elementary schools in the Bethel Park School District. An elementary center serving students in kindergarten through fifth grade will consolidate five currently operating elementary schools there.

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