ORWIGSBURG - A task force is continuing its study of Blue Mountain School District's elementary school in Cressona.
District officials and 11 members of the public met Tuesday in the district administration building for a little more than an hour, while maps of the district buildings were spread out on a table.
The school district announced in June that it is reviewing options to maximize its savings, including moving students out of Blue Mountain Elementary Cressona.
The Cressona building is the smallest and only serves two grades: fourth and fifth, said Superintendent Robert Urzillo.
Urzillo said that if the Cressona building is closed, the district has three options for moving students to other buildings.
The first option - redistricting - would send students in kindergarten through fifth grade who live west of Route 61 to Blue Mountain Elementary West, Friedensburg, and those who live east of Route 61 would attend Blue Mountain Elementary East, Orwigsburg.
The change would affect 171 students, he said.
"What that means is with the available space at both East and (Blue Mountain Elementary) West, we move the remaining kids in the Cressona building to the West building."
Urzillo said using Route 61 as a guide is "the most logical busing arrangement."
Another option is transferring all fifth-grade students to Elementary East but would require scheduling changes for transportation.
A third option would require moving eighth-graders to the high school but members agreed that the third option isn't ideal because it would add about 300 students to the high school.
The task force also discussed using the Cressona building as an alternative school in which the district could join with other districts to use the building. Urzillo said he has had discussions with other education entities but he would not name them Tuesday.
Urzillo said any changes would not be implemented until the 2014-15 school year.
Sondra Jones, a reading specialist at Elementary East school, said she decided to participate in the task force because of the importance to the district and its students.
"The kids are the bottom line," she said.
The task force will meet at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 24 at Elementary East, and attendees will be able to walk through the building. Members then will go to Elementary West if they want.