There's a building project for North Penn schools and an impending school closure to match it.
So the Southern Tioga School District is going through a lot of what the Williamsport Area School District just went through.
And, as might be expected, the board is hearing from some unhappy people.
Most of the unhappiness surrounds the thinking that the school in Liberty will get the ax, despite strong performance.
We will say about the same that we said regarding the Williamsport schools: That is, when all the schools have been improved and closed and the students have been placed in their realigned places, the basics of education will be what remains.
Those basics are a teacher, students and a classroom.
You can dress up education all that you want, but in the end that will always be what it comes down to.
Unfortunately, enrollment trends and the cost of operating buildings creates dilemmas - and foes - regarding the schools.
When that occurs, public dialogue, for all the angst involved, is a good thing. To that end, it was not a good idea for the Southern Tioga officials to attempt to limit that input to written comments only, even if they found a legal basis to do so.
Let the people speak. Let them be angry.
Let them be inquisitive.
Let them voice their opinions.
They are, after all, paying the cost of this public education.
As for the district's decision, it comes down to a simple equation:
What facility arrangement allows the district to provide the best education possible for the most students at the cost future budgets call for?
