PERRYOPOLIS – Frazier School Board took another step towards approving renovation of Perry and Central elementary schools. On Wednesday, the board authorized the administration to start the state-required PLANCOM approval system for renovations. “We would want to go to bid about this time next year on this project,” said Frederick Smeigh, school district superintendent. The building and grounds committee has met with several architectural firms regarding the renovation project, which could cost $8.7 million dollars and involve new heating, ventilating, wiring, plumbing, lighting, windows, doors, and other changes to bring the buildings into compliance with current construction codes and educational requirements. The roofs of the elementary schools need replacing before the renovation begins. The board voted to allow Burt Hill Kosar Rittlemann Associates to provide architectural services at no cost for the roofing project. Burt Hill will prepare specifications and solicit bids for a spray-on polyurethane roof for the schools. Frazier High School will also receive attention. The board voted to have Eckles Architects prepare specifications and solicit bids for painting the exterior of the high school. Architectural fees and advertising cannot exceed $3,000. “Once we get those specs, it will be easy to apply them to the middle school, which will be a separate project,” said Smeigh. “The biggest thing will be to choose the colors and the trim,” he added, well aware that the current dark brown color is not popular. He said that the high school has had a brown exterior since 1991. In other business: Smeigh predicted a budget shortfall due to a “phenomenal decline in interest” that will impact the 2002-2003 budget. Business manager Tom Shetterly said that interest rates on some of the school’s investments have declined from 5 percent to just over 2 percent and show no signs of increasing. Frazier High School will soon have a new automobile for drivers’ training class. The board approved leasing a Chevrolet Cavalier for three years at $262 per month for the first lease. Principal Bernard Kubitza said that drivers’ training classes would be added after school during the spring and fall, in addition to summer classes, which had more students than time permitted for the classes last summer. Any increased costs for the program will not take effect until this summer. The board approved hiring Dawn Palli as an additional Saturday school teacher for $19.84 per hour. Smeigh said enrollment in the Saturday “Read to Succeed” remedial program has increased to the point where an additional teacher was necessary. New Perry and Central elementary schools principal Kenneth Meadows thanked the board for making him a part of the district. He began this week. He previously served as a principal in the Brownsville School District and was hired to replace Linda Nelson, who was named in October 2001 as supervisor of special education/curriculum specialist for grades K-12. She remained elementary principal until Meadows was hired. In order to save $2,600, the board turned down a request for a two-night stay for Future Business Leaders of America members at Seven Springs. The FBLA members will compete in a state-level competition April 8-10. “It’s only an hour’s drive,” said board president John Lowery III. “They can take the bus.”

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