Freeport Area schools to choose path on costly high school renovations

Residents of Freeport Area School District will learn in May how the school board will address needed improvements at the high school.

The school board will choose from two renovation plans, down from nine options they have been pondering for at least two years. A third option would be to do neither.

“I plan on May 14 to have all three proposals on the agenda and have the board vote on them,” board President Gary Risch said.

He asked district Business/Financial Administrator Brad Walker to “bring everything together so that, when we have to make a decision, we’ll have everything in front of us.

“We’re going to make a decision on something May 14,” Risch said.

The high school underwent renovation projects in 1967 and 1987, but much of the building remains unchanged from when it opened in 1960.

All nine options are outlined in the school district’s feasibility study and master plan that can be found on the school district’s website. That website also has information broken out specifically for the options now under consideration by the board. That all can be found at freeport.k12.pa.us/high- school-project.

The two options now being considered are referenced as Option 4 and the “hybrid option.”

Option 4 calls for borrowing $55 million, which will add about $2.9 million in annual debt payments. Work would be done only to the high school.

That option includes general construction, roof replacement, installation of energy-efficient HVAC, plumbing, data/cabling and electrical components along with new floor, wall and ceiling finishes.

However, it would not address site deficiencies, such as the need for additional parking. Current room and programming deficiencies at the high school also would not be addressed.

The second or “hybrid” option also focuses only on the high school. It calls for the replacement of certain roofing areas, HVAC and electrical upgrades and window replacement.

A financing scenario calls for the district to borrow $25.3 million, which would add roughly $1.3 million to the district’s annual debt payments.

“The $20 million is a hybrid to take care of only what needs to be done,” said John Haven, chairman of the board’s building committee.

The option of doing nothing seems to be unlikely given the age and condition of the high school, officials have said.

“I’d like to set aside some time to allow residents to discuss all three options,” Risch said.

Some of that time apparently will be the building committee meeting on April 2. With the options narrowed, Risch said he is disbanding that committee, meaning the April 2 meeting will be its last.

In addition to that meeting, there also will be a full school board meeting on April 9 and a special board meeting May 7, one week before the board makes its decision.

The board did hear some opinions at its last meeting.

One teacher emphasized the need for the board to take some action to resolve chronic problems at the high school, which the board seemed to acknowledge, including the failing public address system that can’t be heard everywhere in building and having to teach in a classroom where sewer gas from nearby lavatories permeates the air.

Meanwhile, some residents were concerned about the cost. One said the board needs to be careful about distinguishing between items that are needs from those that are “wants.”

“There isn’t one thing in those options that is a ‘want,’ ” Risch said.

Speaking about his desire to push for a decision on May 14, Risch said: “We’ve run our course with our committee. We’ve had numerous public meetings, and we have all the information we’ve needed.

“I just wanted to put a hard stop on it. It’s time to make a decision and get on with it.”