Advocates for a community college in Sunbury say they have ample evidence that there are people in the Central Susquehanna Valley who would use a community college if it were available to them.
The effort also has a pair of developers waiting in the wings with dueling proposals to house any community college that sets up shop in Sunbury. One plan would put a community college at the intersection of Fourth and Market streets in a once-grand building that housed a landmark department store and then county social services offices. Less than half a mile away, there stands a 120,000-square-foot building that would have been perfect for a pre-release center to alleviate overcrowding at the Northumberland County Prison. But the county commissioners had no interest in that project, so the building's owner, Sunbury architect Stan Seiple, is now pitching a plan to put the community college in the former Stitches building.
Sunbury leaders see the community college as a potential anchor for a revitalized downtown. There are many reasons for people to root for the proposal.
So what's missing? A champion. The effort needs someone who does not see the community college as a way to make money, but recognizes it as an asset that will help Valley residents who are not able or willing to pursue their post-secondary educations in existing four-year colleges.
Community college planners have no such hero in Northumberland County government. Typically, county governments sponsor community colleges and, in return, county residents get tuition discounts. Northumberland County's commissioners invested in a Shamokin site, successfully wooing Luzerne County Community College in the process. With community college classes available in Shamokin, the commissioners have demonstrated no interest in any plan that would create competition 15 miles away. When the Pennsylvania Highlands Community College was established in the 1990s, Cambria County contributed $660,000 and committed 1 mill of property tax to support the school.
It has been relatively easy to get people to support the broad concept of a community college.
Finding people willing to shoulder the cost has been much more difficult. The measure has been stalled, and some sort of public, realistic assessment of the viability of the plan is in order.
Opinion
Absent a champion, college plan needs another look
- Opinion
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Good-paying jobs
I am writing in response to comments made by several lawmakers and certain media regarding people receiving unemployment compensation not searching for employment but only wanting extensions.
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Economy is tough but still pay rises
It was my first time attending a Lewisburg School Board meeting last night. I went to hear public comment on the Boards recent decision to extend the Superintendents contract, which included a 20-plus percent pay raise.
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Sunbury has a lot to offer
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Mutual aid is necessary
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Lifting me higher
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Understaffing
I read with interest your article regarding police mutual aid in Northumberland County.
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Carney, Marino ought to get focused on issues
U.S. Rep. Chris Carney and Tom Marino ought to focus on the issues in the upcoming campaign for Congress.
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Blatantly unfair
The Pennsylvania Republican Party is supporting an effort to strike third-party candidates from the general election ballot in November.
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Fiscal responsibility
This editorial letter is only the second such letter I have been moved to pen in my lifetime.
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Schools need a little help from home
Milton High School failed to meet its adequate yearly progress under Pennsylvania's version of the federal No Child Left Behind because one student did not show up for the standardized test.
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Good-paying jobs
