By 2026, Palmyra Area School District will move its district offices to a South Forge Road property, where a new, purpose-built building will be constructed by HR Weaver Building Systems.
At its Dec. 12 meeting, the Palmyra school board voted 7-1 to approve a $3,858,761.04 agreement for the purchase of land and construction of offices. Board member Jill Martin was the sole nay vote; board members Mandy Braden, Larry Geib, Suzan Gilligan, Alicia Haldeman, Joshua Jones, Michael Koval, and Dave Laudermilch voted yea. Board member Kayla Leiberher was absent.
District superintendent Dr. Bernie Kepler said that the property will end up being roughly two acres.
No land development plan has yet been submitted to South Londonderry Township for the construction, and Kepler said the developer will be responsible for all planning approvals, including a highway occupancy permit that will need to be obtained from PennDOT for access to South Forge Road (state Route 117).
The property is currently owned by Weaver Sports LLC, whose principal Chad Weaver is also owner and president of HR Weaver Building Systems. The two-acre swath of land earmarked for the school district is being cut out of a larger 18.9-acre tract consisting of multiple parcels which was purchased by Weaver Sports LLC from Prestige Legacy Partners LLC in a $1.25 million transaction that closed in December 2024. Prestige Legacy Partners LLC is owned by Paul Gingrich and Brandon Kane, according to Pennsylvania Department of State filings.
LebTown previously reported on the feasibility study conducted on the district’s behalf by Lancaster-based RLPS Architects to plan for future enrollment growth and educational needs of the Palmyra community.
Read More: Palmyra school board eyes options for school expansion and renovations
At present, five tracks of work are being undertaken as a result of that feasibility study and the ensuing board review and deliberation process.
- Buck Swank Stadium and track renovations: $6,981,216.
- Forge Road Elementary School roof restoration: $2,337,151.87.
- Middle school roof restoration: $1,650,483.55.
- District office relocation: $3,858,761.04.
- High school renovations: $2,428,900.
Kepler said taxation for the roughly $20 million that will be ultimately need for this portion of the project is already in place following a 2.3% tax increase (18.1532 mills) passed by the board for the 2024-25 school year at its June 13, 2024, meeting.
Three main considerations were in mind with prioritizing this specific bundle of work: safety (for Buck Swank Stadium), maintenance (for the Forge Road Elementary School and middle school roof restoration projects), and an immediate need for additional capacity at the high school (district office relocation and high school renovation projects).
The stadium project will address what Kepler described as aging infrastructure – helping keep it a safe environment for the thousands who show up on Friday night to see the Cougars on the gridiron – as well as replacing fixtures like the track surface, goal posts, and sod on the field, switching to more-economical LED lighting, and re-roofing and sprucing up the concession areas and toilet rooms.
Going back to the feasibility study, which was presented to the board in March 2024, Kepler said that it was clear from the data collection that the greatest immediate need and impact would focus on the secondary level, specifically the high school, in order to meet capacity and program challenges already identified at the high school as well as supporting the educational experience for students grades 9 through 12.
“We currently at our high school have a shortage of classroom space,” said Kepler. Multiple teachers don’t have classrooms and instead rotate around the building throughout the day using carts.
Kepler said that each of the next two years, the district will also need to open a new autistic support classroom to support students with autism that are aging up to the high school.
The district explored whether it was more prudent to expand the high school building or reutilize existing space, he said.
A few factors that went into the decision to move the district office and transform that space into four new instructional spaces were that the district office staff could function anywhere, while also preserving existing acreage on the campus and maintaining the amount of impervious ground cover to guard against stormwater issues.
Another consideration was timing, Kepler said, with architects expecting the project to be done in time to start the 2025-26 school year.
Kepler said the board worked with Bering Real Estate for months looking at existing properties and solicited bids for either existing properties that met certain specifications or development proposals for land where there was an ability to build and meet the same specifications.
The purchase agreement approved by the district in December will see PASD owning the new district offices outright after construction is complete.
Although the district no longer expects to be moved into the new facility to start the 2025-26 school year, it will use makeshift offices starting in March so that remodeling of the district offices can begin. Portable storage units at the rear of the high school campus will be used for furniture and non-critical files, and classrooms adjacent to the former district offices will be used as workspaces by district staff from March 1 until mid-August when school starts again. Kepler said no decisions have been made yet beyond that timeline, contingent on where the project and its various needed approvals stand at the time.
In terms of operational impacts from moving the district offices away from the high school, Kepler joked that the first one will be on him personally.
“Many days of the week I walk up to the high school cafeteria and have lunch,” said Kepler. “I think what it will force me to do as leader of the district is spend more equitable time among all six of our schools.”
Kepler said that the move will also help unlock operational facilities, like for example with IT procurement and distribution. Right now, he explained, a pallet of devices delivered to the high school won’t fit on an elevator up to the second floor where the tech department currently sits in a classroom. Rather than needing to break down the pallet, move it upstairs, image it, and then take them back down the elevator for distribution to other buildings, the tech department will have a more streamlined workflow at the new district offices.
Similar efficiencies will be realized for the pupil services team, which is currently spread across the district.
These consolidations will see additional classrooms gained at Pine Elementary School and the high school.
The high school will see a net of three classrooms added. Four full rooms will be realized from the renovation of the district offices, and the upstairs classroom used by the tech department will come back into play for instructional purposes. Two smaller classrooms are being consolidated into the guidance department as part of the renovations.
Now that the 4a projects (the first phase of option 4) have all been bid and awarded, and will begin work soon, the district will turn its attention to the 4b projects – replacement of the roof and mechanical systems at Pine Street Elementary School and Palmyra High School. That phase could also include conversion of the gym and wrestling rooms into STEM spaces and the addition of a larger gymnasium and wrestling room.
RLPS was previously granted a contract for design work on 4b and the board, having already reviewed concept renderings, will this spring go through an exercise to narrow the scope of work and fine tune details. Kepler said that RLPS is expected at the March 27 board meeting to share an interim report, with final recommendations for 4b to be made in May. A community forum will also be scheduled for public input during this process.
Kepler said that the board is starting to look at budgetary numbers for 4b. Part of the financial plan could include refinancing existing bonds related to previous renovation projects at Northside and Forge elementary schools and Palmyra Middle School to reduce debt load.
“Ultimately the general cost for 4b, if we simply just do roofs and mechanical systems of the high school and Pine – we have to maintain those facilities, if we don’t do that, the costs down the road will increase,” said Kepler. “We’re trying to minimize costs that we don’t have to do.”
One idea that’s off the table for now: Building a new intermediate school. Although the concept was explored by RLPS for a 4c phase in the feasibility study, Kepler said that based on the district’s enrollment projections, he does not see a need in the foreseeable future for removing an entire grade from the middle school, even though space is extremely tight there.
“Given where enrollments are going, we don’t need to move a grade level out of there,” he said. “We are clearly trying to do anything we can and prioritize maintenance of facilities and safety of facilities, as we obviously owe it to our taxpayers to reduce the impact as much as possible. That’s our priority, first and foremost, and then looking at programs second.”
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