The downtown of Confluence, Pennsylvania, in Turkeyfoot School District is mainly made up of small, local businesses including a hardware store, restaurants, and numerous bed and breakfasts.
“Visit Somerset County in mid-March and you’ll hear it everywhere — you’ve got to see it in the summer.
That’s when Confluence, population 834, really comes alive. The bed and breakfasts are booked with cyclists making their way along trails that stretch into Maryland and West Virginia. Scenic views and some of the best whitewater rafting in Pennsylvania abound. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater is just a stone’s throw away.
But it’s a place with another, less proud, distinction — home to one of the lowest-paying school districts in the state.” (Story by Jen Kinney for WHYY & Keystone Crossroads)
A farm located just outside Confluence in the Turkeyfoot School District.
Confluence, Pennsylvania, is named for the convergence of Casselman River and Laurel Hill Creek with the Youghiogheny River.
“Bounded by state game lands and the wrinkled curves of the Casselman River, Turkeyfoot Valley Area School District covers 100 square miles, but it has just one school. All 321 students — elementary, middle, and high school — learn in the same H-shaped building.” (Story by Jen Kinney for WHYY & Keystone Crossroads)
Turkeyfoot School District is a rural district located in Southwestern Pennsylvania covering just over 100 square miles. The district employs 34 teachers. For the 2018-2019 school year, it had 321 students from kindergarten to 12th grade.
Jody Gary teaches sixth grade for the Turkeyfoot School District. He started there in 1992 with a salary of $18,500.
“Excellent and proud of it” is the school’s motto, and it’s blazoned on the wall of Jody Gary’s classroom. He’s been teaching math and science in the district for 27 years. When he was hired in 1992, his starting salary was $18,500.
“With college loans and living expenses, it was a struggle at first,” Gary said.”
The computer lab at Turkeyfoot School displays patriotic stickers.
A sparsely attended meeting of the Turkeyfoot School Board in March, 2019.
Parent Amy Wilt agrees that teachers in Turkeyfoot School District should be paid more.
Sandy Younkin runs the Confluence House Bed & Breakfast, which caters to cyclists visiting for the local trail system.
Jeffrey Malaspino is the superintendent of Turkeyfoot School District in southwestern Pennsylvania. He started working for the district in 1988 as a teacher. He’s concerned that Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan will eventually mean higher local taxes.