EMMAUS, Pa. — East Penn School District has paused plans to realign its middle school grades, as school board members voted unanimously Monday to reevaluate the project.
“We really believe the best course of action for our community at this point in time is to pause,” district Superintendent Kristen Campbell said.
“A pause on that work for now will allow us to respond to several overarching questions that have been raised.”
To ease a looming capacity crunch at the district’s elementary schools, officials floated plans in October 2023 to reconfigure how middle grades are grouped into schools.
Fifth- and sixth-grade classrooms would move to Eyer Middle School; Lower Macungie Middle School would house all of the district’s seventh- and eighth-grade classes.
In recent weeks, as the project approached a key early vote, some members said the district should take another path.
Several suggested East Penn should instead prioritize renovations to Emmaus High School; others wanted to re-evaluate an old plan to boost capacity by expanding elementary schools.
Feasibility study reopened
Ahead of Monday’s vote, Campbell told board members that pausing the project would let district officials again weigh the realignment plan against possible alternatives.
To that end, district staff will reopen the feasibility study from which the realignment plan emerged.
“In essence, we will be further investigating some of the same work that was done about a year and a half ago again."East Penn Superintendent Kristen Campbell
Step one will be to update estimates of future enrollment and district demographics to gauge how much space East Penn will need.
Over the next several months, officials will update the estimated cost of the elementary school expansion proposal, realignment plan and potential renovations at Emmaus High School.
Before East Penn can determine how much work at the high school will cost, officials need to nail down exactly what work the building needs.
“In essence, we will be further investigating some of the same work that was done about a year and a half ago again,” Campbell said.
District eyes updated enrollment projections
This fall, East Penn administrators will present updated enrollment and demographic projections to get an updated handle on the scale of potential future overcrowding.
Soon after, the district will share new cost estimates for expanding it elementary schools and shifting the schools’ districts.
In winter, administrators plan to present a proposal for an overhaul of Emmaus High School. East Penn School Board would choose a plan to move forward around April 2026.
“I do have sincere worry that this pause may not be doing what’s best to serve the needs of East Penn.”East Penn School Board President Joshua Levinson
The pause is not without potential drawbacks.
If the school board ultimately decides to move forward with a middle-grade realignment, East Penn will be about a year behind where it is now, according to Campbell.
If the school board selects a different proposal, East Penn will have lost even more time; as time goes by, construction costs generally continue to rise.
“I do have sincere worry that this pause may not be doing what’s best to serve the needs of East Penn,” school board President Joshua Levinson said.
“This pause takes a less proactive approach to address the well-defined and impending space and programmatic needs of the district.
"It does, however, place us at risk of running into quantifiable building, enrollment and programmatic issues.”
