State legislators, education officials gather at Plum for PlanCon hearing

State legislators and education officials joined Pennsylvania Education Secretary Pedro Rivera in Plum on Friday for the latest in what will be eight statewide hearings on the PlanCon program, which aims to reimburse school districts for construction costs.

The committee is tasked with issuing recommendations for changes to the program by mid-May — in time for lawmakers to consider as they work on next year's budget.

Superintendents from Franklin Regional, Plum, Pittsburgh, West Greene and Sharon City school districts all told the committee, which met at O'Block Junior High School, that they would like to see the process streamlined and urged raising the cap on which projects require prevailing wages.

“Restructuring PlanCon is essential to the future of Pennsylvania education,” said Franklin Regional Superintendent Gennaro Piraino, whose district is conducting a feasibility study that estimates it may need up to $98 million in upgrades over the next 10 years. “Without some sort of state reimbursement, the impact to local taxpayers will be devastating.”

Anthony Hamlet, superintendent of Pittsburgh Public Schools, suggested condensing the current 11-step PlanCon process and expanding the list of reimbursable items to include health and safety projects, like the $2 million his district spent after testing revealed elevated lead levels in 141 of 4,700 districtwide samples in 2016.

Architect Dan Engen, whose VEBH firm is conducting Franklin Regional's feasibility study, has been involved with PlanCon for more than 25 years. He said it has largely been helpful.

“Most school buildings in Pennsylvania are 40 years old or older,” Engen told the committee. “PlanCon encouraged districts to care for what they have.”

Engen said the steps in the PlanCon process, while they take time, also are beneficial.

“It's a great oversight in our view because it creates a transparent process and you don't get started until you have all your approvals,” he said.

Plum Superintendent Timothy Glasspool, whose district underwent the PlanCon process in its recent construction of Pivik and Holiday Park elementary schools, agreed.

“I believe school boards don't always make the best decisions, and so having that additional level of state oversight is beneficial,” he said. “I'm not a builder. I don't know about construction. So PlanCon is a great double-check for the taxpayer.”

Nearly every panelist who testified said the current $25,000 cap on projects that do not require a prevailing wage needs to be raised.

“Perhaps closer to $100,000,” Engen said.

State Rep. Stan Saylor, R-York County, said that is something the committee has heard at other hearings.

“We have schools whose employees can do the work but aren't able because it costs more than $25,000,” said Saylor, committee co-chair.

Glasspool said $25,000 “is one thing when you're looking at a home renovation, but for a school roof or some of the other repairs, $100,000 would be a much better number.”

State Sen. Pat Browne, R-Lehigh County, the committee's other co-chair, asked panelists if PlanCon reimbursement should be extended to projects that deal with student specialization.

“I think it makes complete sense financially,” Piraino said. “This year, we took a small space and added things like laser cutters, vinyl cutters and 3-D printers, and our business students are now working with local businesses on a variety of projects. That was funded through grant money, but the renovation included things like a specialized ventilation system. ... I do think there should be some proportional ratio for specialized spaces.”

A Pennsylvania School Board Association advisory committee on PlanCon issued several recommendations including a modernized, streamlined process, dedicated state education department staffing and a dedicated funding source so that districts are able to better plan for their financial future.

The committee will wrap up hearings in April.

Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-850-2862 or pvarine@tribweb.com.