Westfield, Pennsylvania

Geography

Westfield is located at 41°55′4″N 77°32′25″W (41.917910, -77.540315).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 1.0 square mile (2.6 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,190 people, 495 households, and 330 families residing in the borough. The population density was 1,148.8 people per square mile (441.8/km²). There were 551 housing units at an average density of 531.9 per square mile (204.6/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 97.56% White, 1.01% African American, 0.34% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.25% from other races, and 0.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.59% of the population.

There were 495 households out of which 29.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.7% were married couples living together, 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.3% were non-families. 28.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.85.

In the borough the population was spread out with 25.3% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 27.6% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 19.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 89.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.2 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $27,772, and the median income for a family was $33,688. Males had a median income of $26,607 versus $18,424 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $13,135. About 15.9% of families and 22.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.4% of those under age 18 and 13.1% of those age 65 or over.

Government

The Westfield Borough is governed by seven, locally elected borough council members and a mayor. The Borough operates a police force. The borough's polling place is the Westfield Borough Community Building located at 429 East Main Street.

The county has three, elected at large, County Commissioners. In 2014, the county commissioners are: Erick J. Coolidge, Mark L. Hamilton and Roger C. Bunn.

Education

Residents of Westfield Borough may attend the local, public schools operated by Northern Tioga School District which provides full day kindergarten through 12th grade. The District also provides taxpayer funded preschool. In 2013, the District's enrollment declined to 2,085 students kindergarten through 12th grade. In 2013, Northern Tioga School District ranked 389th out of 498 public schools for academic achievement of its pupils, by the Pittsburgh Business Times.

Westfield Borough 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 Westfield Borough. Early screening for disabilities, 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; the Elkland Area Community Library located on East Parkway Avenue, in Elkland; the Green Free Library located in Wellsboro and to the statewide PA Power Library which is an online library funded with tax dollars from the state's education budget.