McKeesport Area airs details of Founders Hall addition

McKeesport Area officials reviewed the logistics and feasibility of the district's realignment plan as they aired details on additions to Founders Hall Middle School.

During a Department of Education-required Act 34 hearing that preceded Wednesday's open agenda meeting, school directors heard testimony from Superintendent Timothy Gabauer, business manager Dave Seropian and architect Ryan Pierce regarding additions to Founders Hall Middle School. They addressed how the middle school is one of several layers of reconfiguration resulting from district construction projects.

Gabauer referenced a 2005 demographic study that opened discussions on the reconfiguration process for kindergarten through sixth grade. Between two and three years later, a master planning study concluded that the district's five existing buildings housing the K-6 population were “underutilized.”

“All three elementary schools named there — George Washington, White Oak and Centennial — needed either replaced or renovated,” Gabauer said.

The original plan was to replace the three elementary buildings with two new schools, replace or renovate Cornell Intermediate School and renovate Francis McClure Intermediate School. That concept was revised in 2009 when architects at J.C. Pierce condensed the K-6 program into three total buildings, two new K-6 facilities and a renovated Francis McClure to accommodate the same grade levels.

“In 2012, construction of the final facility was placed on hold due to budgetary concerns and community feedback,” Gabauer said. “A new district-wide master study plan indicated a more financially feasible option that suited the enrollment numbers and academic needs of the district.”

The plan to hold kindergarten through fifth grade in two facilities and sixth through eighth grade at Founders Hall prompted a new construction plan that Gabauer called “the final piece of the puzzle.”

Wednesday's Act 34 hearing addressed the Sixth Grade Academy addition to Founders Hall, along with work on the existing middle school to include air conditioning, corridor wall protection and construction of new locker rooms on the main gymnasium.

“The educational program and strategic goals that apply to these projects are to ... create a separate Sixth Grade Academy to create as much separation as possible between the sixth-graders and seventh- and eighth-graders while locating that at the Founders Hall site for economy,” Pierce said.

The wings will operate on separate bell schedules and lay groundwork for an academy structure in coming years.

The Sixth Grade Academy, to be constructed on a portion of the grass and a portion of the Founders Hall parking area along Eden Park Boulevard, will consist of 14 classrooms, one life skills room, a large faculty space, large group instruction room, a dedicated science classroom, two small group instruction rooms and restrooms. There will be a basement level with a semi-finished wrestling practice room and locker rooms.

Pierce said McKeesport Area realignment intends to increase performance standards across the district, distribute students in an appropriate capacity, provide campus efficiency and decrease operating costs.

Prior to realignment, the district operated schools in a collective 440,875 square feet with operational costs (such as utilities and maintenance) of roughly $1,037,149 per year. Revised numbers will have the district spending $446,513 per year over 307,969 square feet.

“The district reduces cost by almost $600,000 a year, and the reason is simple,” Pierce said. “The Cornell site will be brand new; the Sixth Grade Academy structure will be brand new; and Francis McClure was renovated within the last 10 years and renovated again when the addition was put on. They are much more efficient to operate.”

Seropian presented financing options pertaining to the project, which is set at a maximum building cost of $7,656,756 and maximum project cost of $13,271,350.

“I can, with firsthand knowledge, tell you we do not have the cash to pay for this project so we have to look at three borrowing options,” he said. “The general obligation bonds are the most favorable to the school district. The cost is lower, and they have lower interest rates.”

The project's annual debt service will be $436,479, which is met by $124,134.63 in state reimbursement. The district's remaining $312,344.37 obligation is equivalent to 0.4278 mills.

The board welcomed public comment, but no residents registered to speak.

“If anyone is here who would decide later that they would like to comment or if anyone in the community would like to comment, they have 30 days to make written comments, provide them to the district, and they will be part of the transcript that is sent into the Department of Education,” solicitor Gary Matta said.

Written comment can be delivered to the office of the board secretary, 2590 O'Neil Blvd., McKeesport. The 30-day comment period ends March 25 at noon.

Jennifer R. Vertullo is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 412-664-9161, ext. 1956, or jvertullo@tribweb.com.