Build a new Pennsbury High School. Here's why a committee says it's better than renovating
NOTE: Earlier versions of this story included incorrect figures for school-tax increases related to the district’s plan to build a new high school. The district provided the wrong figures. Over the next 10 years, school taxes in the district could rise $2,051 on average, or roughly $205 a year, to pay for a new school and $285 a year if other contractual costs are included.
A new high school could be coming to the Pennsbury School District.
That was the recommendation of the school district's Facilities Committee, and now the proposal goes to the full board for a final decision on the future of a new building.
The committee voted Thursday night for a plan to build a new school rather than try to renovate the West Campus on South Olds Boulevard into a singular school.
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A new school could cost the district $235 million to $275 million, said James Lynch of D'Huy Engineering, depending on whether a pool and other features are added, but the district wants to cap the new building price tag at $250 million, Superintendent Thomas Smith said.
The cost will add an average $205 annually to the real estate tax bills of district taxpayers, or $2,050 over 10 years, as the millage rate will increase each year, going from 178.94 this year to 250.14 in 2032-33, according to district projections for the project. Taxes are paid in mills or $1 for each $1,000 dollars in assessed property value. When other contractual obligations are added in, the figure rises to $2,850 or an average $285.
Pennsbury High School students currently walk or take shuttles between the East and West campuses on the sprawling school property. The district intends to demolish the smaller East Campus to make room for a bus depot, and that was not in serious consideration for renovations.
Renovations to the West Campus would cost between $185 million to $235 million, Lynch pointed out in a slide presentation, depending on what extra features would be added such as a new pool and larger auditorium and gym.
After touring the West Campus and visiting new schools in two other districts, 17 members of a citizens committee who looked into the proposals unanimously recommended the district build a new school rather than overhaul West, said Terry Poulton of Lower Makefield, a member of the committee.
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A long walk through West Campus of Pennsbury
Poulton said that when the group of residents toured West, they saw water dripping on student desks, learned that about 40% of the building wouldn't be renovated and that it couldn't be expanded again as a new building could be.
"It"s a quarter of a mile walk (from one end of the building to the other)," he said, and that's before any additions to accommodate the space being lost at East would be added. And the building couldn't be expanded vertically.
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A Pennsbury graduate, David Mann, who came to the meeting in a motorized wheelchair, said that it is important for the high school to have better accessibility for students with disabilities while parent and former graduate Mike Fakenvitz, who works in heating and ventilation in major buildings, said the ceiling in West is not deep enough to include the duct work needed for proper air exchange.
Cost is still a consideration.
Robert Abrams of Lower Makefield said that by the time the district is finished paying interest on bond issues to pay off current debt for the renovations to the Charles Boehm Middle School, roofs for other school buildings, and for the new school, it will cost more than a billion dollars. He warned about a drop in the district's bond rating and that this could affect home values.
But Lynch said that a new school can draw residents to a community and raise property values, as well as help in the hiring of teachers.
The district will pay $34,000 for a demographic study to determine if its plan to build the building for 2,800 students is accurate because new housing developments are being planned, particularly in Lower Makefield, and the board may reconsider a merger with the Morrisville School District, though that proposal is off the table now.
Donna Abrescia, who won a seat on the school board in Tuesday's election, asked the committee to postpone the decision for two more months until she can join the board rather than board member Gary Sanderson, who lost his seat in the election, make the vote. But board member Linda Palsky said the board had been eyeing a new school since 2018, that Sanderson had worked 16 years as a school board member and that the vote shouldn't be put off.
"This is long overdue," Palsky said. "We owe it to the kids."
The full board plans to vote on the decision at its meeting, 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Fallsington Elementary School on Yardley Avenue in Fallsington.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Pennsbury to consider building new high school instead of renovating
