Belle Vernon Area School Board members decided Tuesday which options to examine further as part of the second phase of the district's renovation project.
Directors asked N. John Cunzolo Associates to update a feasibility study examining three options: adding science and technology rooms to the high school, costing about $6 million; redistricting the middle schools to combine fifth and sixth grades into one building and seventh and eighth into another, costing about $2.3 million, and building a new elementary school, costing about $7 million.
Director Dale Patterson introduced the latter option at the joint meeting of the building and grounds and the education and curriculum committees. He said his option gives "vision" to the renovation project, rather than the district continually having to repair and build additions to the elementary schools.
Patterson also emphasized the need to reduce the size of the elementary schools, and said studies have shown students perform better in small schools.
"The smaller the school, the better the school," he said.
Superintendent Dr. Charles Chandler said the district has a limited budget to work with on the renovation project.
"We have a little over $10 million that is undesignated," he said. He asked directors not to spend more than that.
Assistant Superintendent Robert Nagy said the estimated cost also should examine what the state would reimburse for the project.
"At some point in time, we need to look at what's reimbursable," he said. "If you build a new elementary, you'll be reimbursed for every 25 kids we put in a classroom" from an overcrowded school.
Richard Jaynes of N. John Cunzolo Associates said calculating reimbursements isn't that simple. There are many factors that determine how the state reimburses the school.
"(In) the rough ball-parking, you're in the $2 million range" in reimbursements for building a new elementary school, he said.
Jaynes said it would be few weeks before the feasibility study, at no cost to the school, could be updated. It will include an estimate of how the school would be reimbursed for each option, he said.
Shannon is a reporter for the Tribune-Review.
