Palmyra Area School District is seeking public input on several proposals on the table to handle enrollment growth and evolving needs in the classroom over the next few decades.
District administrators will host a public forum at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14, in the middle school auditorium for a presentation on the district’s feasibility study and discussion.
According to an email from district superintendent Bernie Kepler, the district contracted with Lancaster-based RLPS Architects to conduct a districtwide feasibility study “to explore the potential for educational program and facility/infrastructure updates to foster long-term vitality for the district and community. PASD seeks to plan for future enrollment growth and educational needs of our community.”
“This is the beginning,” Kepler told LebTown. “These are the first glimpses of our architect saying, ‘These are options.’ … But there has been no decision. We’re not even close to making a decision. Our board only saw this (information) for the first time two weeks ago.”
The school board was given the initial presentation by architects on Oct. 12. Slides from the presentation can be found on the district website.
The public forum, Kepler said, is “an opportunity to start the conversation.”
But waiting too long would be a mistake, Kepler warned. Working with local municipalities, he explained, the district has a good sense of what new developments are planned and the impact on future enrollment growth.
“We are due to run out of space,” he said. “We have room in our classrooms now for some influx of students. But beyond five to seven years at the most, I see a need for additional classroom space.”
‘Bursting at the seams’
According to the RLPS report, the district’s existing facilities – spanning 677,343 square feet of structural space on 104 acres – are generally in good condition but require updates and repairs and, in many cases, need additional space.
The high school and Pine Street Elementary School are most in need of repairs, Kepler said. Other buildings, such as Northside and Forge Road elementary schools, have been renovated more recently but still need some significant work, such as roof replacements.
Even the high school football stadium is going to need new bleachers soon, Kepler said. Although they are inspected annually for safety, “they are very old, and eventually they are going to need to be replaced.”
Part of the challenge, he said, is looking at the district’s current instructional programming and trying to determine what an educational space should look like down the road – say, in the year 2040 or 2050.
The district already is overcrowded, Kepler noted, with the largest class sizes at the high school level.
“Three out of four grade levels are at or above 300 students,” he said. “We are at capacity and bursting at the seams. … Elementary classes are down a little bit right now but, with 28 to 30 students in elementary classrooms, that is not ideal.
“Right now, the bubble is in the high school but, five or ten years down the road, it’s going to be across the board.”
The middle school presents a different challenge, Kepler said. “We are going to need space, but the building is landlocked,” he explained. “We don’t believe it’s possible to add on to that building. So, the only way to gain some space is to remove a grade from that building.”
‘Several years down the road’
Although the district is still “years away” from the point where the board needs to begin borrowing money for physical improvements to the schools, it’s important to take a look now, Kepler said.
“In terms of breaking ground, we are several years down the road,” he said.
Information provided in the most recent RLPS report shows that options range from a low of about $63 million to a high end of about $180 million. The low end does little to improve the district’s facilities, Kepler said — basically just repairing and maintaining the existing buildings.
The most expensive option includes buying land and building a new high school, then moving grades 6-8 into the existing high school, converting the middle school into an intermediate school for grades 4-5, and retaining Lingle Avenue and Pine Street elementary schools.
Middle-of-the-road options, with cost estimates ranging from $97 million to $178 million, include expanding existing buildings and keeping grades situated where they are, or keeping Lingle Avenue and Pine Street as elementary schools and converting Northside into a grade 4-6 intermediate school, with 7-8 grades in the middle school, making some additions and renovations to the high school, and relocating the district office.
The findings include a brief list of must-have options for whatever plan the board ultimately choses, including future planning for classroom capacity, technology infrastructure upgrades, a competition-size gymnasium at the high school, and programs and facilities for a STEM and robotics program.
There are also slightly lower priorities, such as athletic facility upgrades, elementary grade level configurations, and additional conference room space, and much lower priorities, like stormwater management upgrades, a new district office to free up space in the high school, and enhanced school police services.
‘Phased-in tax increases’
The money for whatever project ultimately is chosen would likely come from a mix of sources, include higher taxes, bond issues and budgetary reserves.
“In terms of reserves, the district has some but not enough,” Kepler said. “We would have to phase millage in over time.”
Millage is the rate at which properties are taxed, based on assessed value. To date, the superintendent said, officials have not calculated how much taxes would have to increase to cover the project.
“That will be the next step,” Kepler explained. “After we get community input. … and discussions to decide what options make sense. Then we’ll work with our financial advisers. ‘This will cost X, what will that take?’ Ultimately, what does it mean for phased-in tax increases?”
Taxes are unlikely to be part of the discussion on Nov. 14, Kepler noted. And the district administration is still a long way away from making a recommendation to the school board about which course to take.
“No, we have not reached that point,” he said. “Although there’s not a doubt in my mind that building a new high school puts the district in the best position to handle 40 to 50 years of enrollment growth. That puts us in the best position for facilities, but you have to balance that with an operating budget.”
Kepler said it’s important that the community be aware of and attend the forum on Nov. 14. Although a few residents were in attendance at the Oct. 12 school board meeting where the RLPS report was discussed, he said, the 14th “will provide residents with the first opportunity to see it, hear and respond to what the architects are sharing.”
“I think it’s smart to start discussions now. If we make decisions three or four years from now, we’ll be too late,” he added. “We’ll be bringing in portable classrooms.”
Building a new school “doesn’t happen overnight,” Keppler said. Realistically, he said, it takes a year and a half to two years of work “before a shovel touches the ground.” At that rate, he said, 2026 is the earliest – but 2027 is more likely – that the board could begin borrowing money and moving forward with a concrete construction plan.
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