There are some major rearrangements happening at the Elizabeth Forward School District.

The school board voted 6-3 on Wednesday to move forward with the next phase of its high school construction project, which has ripple effects for the district's middle and elementary schools under the district's facilities plan.

"At this time, this seems to be the best decision moving forward," Superintendent Keith Konyk said.

"Phase two" is part of EF's plan. Part of that phase includes a two-story academic wing that will go up for 7th and 8th graders.

"So all the 7th graders would be in one of those two-story wings, and all the eighth graders would be in the other," Konyk said.

Konyk said this would be for their core classes. Students would move out to the rest of that building for elective courses.

Kids in grades 2-6 would move to Elizabeth Forward Middle School.

Central Elementary would be just for younger students, like those in kindergarten and first grade.

That means Greenock Elementary School would close. Same for William Penn and Mt. Vernon Elementary School.

Konyk says right now, there are inconsistencies in class sizes across the district – and that this move would help that.

"20, 22 – those numbers are good numbers," he said. "And consistently across the board."

One issue some district parents have brought up is busing. Konyk told KDKA that currently, all students in the district have to make the trip to the middle school for sixth grade.

"We'll need to make sure that we keep those things, those bus times, capped at a reasonable number for our parents," Konyk said.

This project really started after a fire at Elizabeth Forward High School more than two years ago.

When KDKA visited earlier this year, parts of the future gymnasium, auditorium, and other additions and renovations to the high school were under construction.

"What happened was the fire forced us to really look at our infrastructure," Konyk said.

The superintendent added that reconfigurations of district buildings have been happening around the region. He said having all the students together will provide "better access to educational resources," and allow for better collaboration between teachers.

Konyk also acknowledged that the school closure conversation is not an easy one to have, but said it is a needed one.

"When you have to have six buildings that are all in need of attention, you know – you just have to kind of make some decisions about where you put those resources," he said.

The superintendent told KDKA that the academic wing is supposed to be finished by August of 2027.

The closures and realignment that would come after would start in the 2027-28 school year.