Since 1952, Central Bucks School District has gone about splitting up their grades in a unique way, but recent decisions made by the school board will change the entire district setup. 

Central Bucks School District has made the decision to realign the way their district is. Instead of K-6 for the elementary schools, 7-9 for the middle schools, and 10-12 for the high schools they are opting for a more traditional K-5, 6-8, and 9-12 setup. 

“As a parent I can see why 6th grade would go to middle school and 9th to high school,” said Ms. Gilbert, librarian at South. “While it makes sense it does mean that we have to think about stuff like space and movement and transportation.” 

Both concerns and hopes have been shared by teachers and students alike. 

Ella Gift, a junior at South said she thought “it’s a wonderful opportunity for younger students to challenge themselves,” as well as opening up “leadership opportunities and classes” for the 9th grade students. 

Meanwhile, Keira Calista, a junior at South and MBIT said, “I don’t think there are going to be many good things from it.” 

Some believe that students who attend Central Bucks are at a disadvantage because they do not have the chance to take AP courses, high school electives, and high school clubs till they are sophomores. 

“I’m hoping that ninth graders would take Art 1 and then the older kids will take the upper levels,” Mrs. Fidler, an art teacher at South, said.  

However, with more opportunities comes more freedom and the question of whether ninth grade students are prepared for the freedom of high school. 

“Some will rise to the occasion and others will struggle,” said Mrs. Losey, a ninth-grade English teacher at Tamanend said. “Maturity varies widely.” 

Ms. Gilbert said that “giving ninth graders the freedom of lunch and learn is a lot,” especially considering there were “older kids who have shown they can’t handle that autonomy.” 

“To be honest, ninth graders are kind of crazy,” said Shrinithaa Elangovan, a junior at South. “It doesn’t matter what class or year they’re in; they’re crazy,” 

However, Mrs. Losey thought that a program at Tamanend called I & E “offers similar things” to Lunch & Learn.  However, she also noted that a difference between the two was that I & E was a lot more structured than Lunch & Learn, so they are not the same. 

The concerns over Lunch & Learn are only exacerbated by the issues over space. Many already think there isn’t enough room in general for kids to learn. 

“It’s already really congested, especially in the hallways,” said Elangovan. “Why make it more congested?” 

Talks about putting classes in the library or the pod have been discussed as a way to fix the spacing issue. 

“I don’t want that to happen,” said Ms. Gilbert. She also raised concerns over other Central Bucks high schools’ libraries where constructions would “cut the libraries in half.” That means less room for students to eat lunch in there, less room for study hall students, and getting rid of many library books. 

“My major concern is spacing and where to fit the kids,” said Mrs. Fidler. 

Mrs. Losey said that while most teachers don’t mind sharing classrooms, “not having a home base” would be a problem if teachers had their classrooms on a cart.  

This sentiment is shared with most students. 

Gift said she didn’t know “if the schools and teachers are equipped” for “the space required to host” another grade level. 

“My teacher even said some teachers might have to share classrooms,” said Elangovan. 

For the best chance at success, many teachers agree more plans need to be set in stone. 

“I would say do construction first and see how much space that gives us,” said Mrs. Fidler. 

Ms. Gilbert said she thought there were “a lot of moving parts,” to realignment that she “didn’t think were moving.” 

Mrs. Losey agreed. “Not many decisions have been made,” she said. “They haven’t gotten to curriculum or staffing yet.” 

Many parts of realignment have to be thought of, such as spacing, budget, and dealing with the maturity of the younger kids.  

The estimated date of realignment is to have kids fully integrated by the Fall of 2026, but everyone will have to wait and see if Central Bucks School District can fit in all the changes necessary before then.