Fox Chapel Area students could start the fall semester about a week later than usual, to allow additional time for ongoing work at the district's high school.
The school board last week released a draft of a 2015-16 calendar, which sets Sept. 2 as the first day for classes. A vote is expected March 9.
“These few extra days will allow for additional time for the ongoing construction at the high school,” said Bonnie Berzonski, district coordinator of communications.
She said Fox Chapel Area's administration is looking to get as much accomplished on the $46 million district-wide construction project as possible, before students file into school hallways.
Started in April 2014, the project is designed to upgrade all six district buildings.
Work began first at the high school, which is to get a new pool, new auditorium seats and a sound system and improvements to the gym, locker rooms and library. The high school, built in 1961, will receive the bulk of the work at a cost of about $30 million.
District-wide, the project is expected to last about three years. Work at the high school in the spring is to include demolition of the second-floor faculty restrooms, installation of the floor, seats and wood trim in the auditorium and new lighting in the hallways.
Berzonski said plans have been detailed to make sure there is no impact on classrooms.
Parents, students and other residents will have a month to review the tentative calendar before it goes up for a vote. The tentative calendar includes 182 instructional days, two more than the state-required 180 days.
The tentative calendar “has students starting school just a few days later than this current school year,” Berzonski said. That means the end of school will be pushed back as well, she said.
If approved, school will let out June 10, 2016, as opposed to June 5 this year.
The proposed calendar is available for review on the district's website, at fcasd.edu. The school board could vote on the calendar at a meeting at 7 p.m. March 9 in the large group instruction room at the high school on Field Club Road.
Tawnya Panizzi is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 412-782-2121, ext. 2 or at tpanizzi@tribweb.com.
