CLEARFIELD – Because skepticism related to costs arose among the Clearfield Area School District Board of Directors Monday night, it tabled moving forward with its proposed building plans for the high school, maintenance facility and the Clearfield Elementary School.
For next month’s meeting, board President Dave Glass plans to research building projects at similar-sized school districts and compare their costs to that currently being proposed in option 9 by J. Greer Hayden of HHSDR Architects/Engineers. He’ll also compare to information available through the state’s Department of Education.
At the suggestion of the board, Superintendent Dr. Thomas B. Otto will contact former interim Superintendent Dr. J. Thomas Frantz, whom is currently still on payroll, about consulting the board about its feasibility plans given his prior experience with the same.
Last week, Hayden presented his newest proposal – option 9 – and mixed and matched parts of both option 7 and option 8, which were previously presented May 2. Option 9 relocates the seventh and eighth grades and administrative offices to the high school.
A new 4,000-square foot maintenance facility that would measure 50-foot by 80-foot would also be constructed at the end of the band parking lot at the high school campus.
According to a previously published GantDaily report, the high school expansion project, including the district administrative offices, would cost the district $35,326,500, while total costs would be $8,926,500 at the CES campus and $741,000 for the maintenance facility.
When the board held its discussion of option 9, board member Jennifer Wallace said valid points were raised by members of the public. She couldn’t support the district spending $741,000 for the construction of the proposed maintenance facility.
Board member Tim Morgan also expressed that he was “uncomfortable with the dollar amount” associated with option 9 overall. He wanted the district to have someone with a “neutral eye” look it over before moving forward.
“I’m concerned with the total costs as well. This weekend, I had some time to give it more thought, and this community doesn’t have the tax base. To wrap people with a millage increase, we can’t do it that way,” board member Larry Putt said.
Although Wallace was pleased with Hayden’s feasibility study presentation, she said he’s proposed a “Cadillac when (the district) really only needs a Volkswagen.” Board member Mary Anne Jackson pointed out that the total costs also included $20 million for completely new electric and HVAC systems.
“It’s what hasn’t been replaced for the past 20 to 30 years,” Jackson told the board. Rick Bunning, director of buildings and grounds, said the district couldn’t afford to continue patching and cited ongoing drainage and sanitary leaks throughout the high school.
Otto indicated that the elementary schools needed repairs, while they’d also be necessary to the high school’s swimming pool and boilers. At the middle school, he said tiles are coming up, and students are throwing them around like Frisbees.
According to Glass, the district has hired two different architects to review the state of its buildings. The longer its decision gets put off, the greater the risk of the conditions worsening and becoming so severe the district would be forced to commit to a major project, he said.
He asked board members how many architects they wanted to review its buildings. He said they weren’t pleased with the proposal from the first architect, Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates, and now with the outcome from HHSDR Architects/Engineers.
Although he realized skepticism surrounded the costs, Glass believed these concerns should have been addressed months ago. Otto said that Hayden had earned his trust, and he felt the architect was merely trying to protect the district due to potential for rising costs.
Since 1992, Bunning said the district’s conducted about eight or nine feasibility studies, and Hayden updated that previously conducted by Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates. “You’ve inherited this problem; it’s been neglected. Nothing has been done at the high school for 37 years.”
Morgan said he wanted to confirm the district was getting “the best product for the money” it’ll be spending. If the results come back the same again, he said he’d feel more comfortable supporting it.
During the public comment session, former faculty member Gail Ralston criticized the district’s priorities, as its building program planned to construct a new maintenance facility first at the cost of $741,000. The average garage costs $45 per square foot in Pennsylvania, she said.
Under the current proposal, the district stands to spend $185 per square foot to build the new maintenance facility at the high school campus. It would be the equivalent of a 6-mill property tax increase for one year and would result in nothing “student-oriented,” she said.
She continued, “At $741,000, your proposed maintenance facility would be an upscale garage . . . I don’t see how you all can justify that for a maintenance facility as part of your building program. I don’t think it should be the first place you spend money.”
Community member Charlie Lombardo asked board members if they had either researched Sen. John Wozniak’s proposed bill for redistricting schools statewide, or approached Curwensville school officials about the possibilities of merging.
“You’re talking about adding on to the high school. You’re talking about adding on to the (Clearfield) elementary school. You could be wasting money. Who knows where you’ll be in one, two or three years. You’re rushing toward a conclusion, I think,” he said.
Glass advised that he’d met with Wozniak, whom hasn’t produced any legislation for school redistricting. He said Wozniak doubted the bill would receive approval by state lawmakers, and if it would, the redistricting would likely occur in phases.
According to Glass, he has reached out to the Curwensville Area School District about combining. However, school officials there didn’t appear interested in holding further discussions, and he told Lombardo that “it takes two to talk.”
He said the board has spent hours and days studying the district’s building issues. If the district continued to prolong its decision, he said it could possibly pay more for the proposed building projects.
“People don’t have it, a 6-mill increase, with gas prices the way they are,” Lombardo said. Glass told Lombardo if he’d served on the feasibility advisory committee, he would’ve been exposed first-hand to the conditions of the district’s facilities.
“And, that’s what’s driving all this,” Glass said.
