Tioga Township, Tioga County, Pennsylvania

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 40.5 square miles (104.8 km²), of which, 38.7 square miles (100.2 km²) of it is land and 1.8 square miles (4.6 km²) of it (4.40%) is water.

Tioga Township is bordered by Lawrence Township to the north, Jackson and Rutland Townships to the east, Richmond Township to the south and Middlebury and Farmington Townships to the west. Tioga Township surrounds the borough of Tioga.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 995 people, 385 households, and 286 families residing in the township. The population density was 25.7 people per square mile (9.9/km²). There were 472 housing units at an average density of 12.2/sq mi (4.7/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 99.20% White, 0.30% Native American, 0.10% Asian, and 0.40% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.20% of the population.

There were 385 households out of which 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.1% were married couples living together, 6.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.5% were non-families. 18.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 2.93.

In the township the population was spread out with 23.5% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 26.4% from 45 to 64, and 15.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 109.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.7 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $32,411, and the median income for a family was $38,250. Males had a median income of $30,536 versus $22,813 for females. The per capita income for the township was $15,290. About 11.7% of families and 14.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.1% of those under age 18 and 11.8% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

Communities and locations

Education

Residents of Tioga Township may attend the local, public schools operated by Northern Tioga School District which provides full day kindergarten through 12th grade. In 2013, the District's enrollment declined to 2,085 students kindergarten through 12th grade. Northern Tioga School District ranked 389th out of 500 public schools for academic achievement of its pupils in 2013.

Tioga Township residents may also apply to attend any of the Commonwealth's 14 public cyber charter schools (in 2013) at no additional cost to the parents. The resident’s public school district is required to pay the charter school and cyber charter school tuition for residents who attend these public schools. By Commonwealth law, if the District provides transportation for its own students, then the District must provide transportation to any school that lies within 10 miles of its borders. Residents may also seek admission for their school aged child to any other public school district. When accepted for admission, the student's parents are responsible for paying an annual tuition fee set by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. In 2012, the tuition fees for Northern Tioga School District were: Elementary School - $8,463.08, High School - $9,853.49.

BLaST Intermediate Unit #17 provides a wide variety of services to children living in its region which includes Tioga Township. Early screening, special educations services, speech and hearing therapy and many other services like driver education are available. Services for children during the preschool years are provided without cost to their families when the child is determined to meet eligibility requirements.

Community members have access to the Westfield Public Library which is located on Maple Street, in Westfield; the Elkland Area Community Library on East Parkway Avenue, in Elkland and to the statewide PA Power Library [1] which is an online library funded with tax dollars from the state's education budget.

Mansfield University of Pennsylvania is a state university located in Mansfield. Residents may take courses at a discounted tuition rate for state residents.

Politics and government

Tioga Township is governed by three, locally elected Township Supervisors.

Three, elected at large, County Commissioners. Roger C. Bunn, Mark L. Hamilton and Erick J. Coolidge in 2014