The High School Project

FAQ's

When will the project be finished?

• The target open date is fall 2025.

How much is it going to cost?

• The estimated budget is $85-$95 Million. To ensure the project stays within budget both the architect and construction manager will both be providing cost estimates at each of these design phases: schematic design, design development and construction document, to ensure the project stays within the budget.

• When the project is bid the School Board will have the opportunity during a public Board meeting to discuss the bids. The Board will then have the option to accept the lowest responsible bidder and possible alternates if the project is within the $85-$95 million range. If the project is above the $95 million threshold the Board has the option to reject all bids and ask the architect to reevaluate the project.

What’s included in the $85-$95 million?

• Bulk site development (The site will not be clear cut and bulk earth moving is not part of the project. Thomas and Williamson developed the site plan so that no fill material needs to leave the site and no new material needs to be brought to the site).

• Site furnishings (sidewalks, site lighting, landscaping, signage, etc.)

• The new high school (Meeting the reconciled educational program developed by Thomas and Williamson)

• Athletic Field (Not a stadium, but could be included as noted above)

• Tennis courts

• District offices (allowing cost saving by leaving current third party office location)

• Other possible alternates (Those are still to be determined but would include things like Field House, Black Box Theatre, additional fields, or additional orchestra room. The community visioning sessions may determine those additional needs or wants) More info can be read here: https://4.files.edl.io/16d4/06/10/20/184613-50fa11a5-a170-4aca-acbd-9a562debb810.pdfd

• Drainage improvements to the site and along Camp Meeting Rd.

• Improvements to camp meeting road. This includes two entrances to the site, turning lanes and realignment of curves.

• Improvements to the intersection at Beaver Street and Camp Meeting Rd.

• Sidewalks connecting the new school to Beaver Street.

Why has the plan changed since 2019?

• The master plan provided by VEBH Architects in 2019 was a conceptual Master Plan. In fact VEBH provided two conceptual Master Plans (Conceptual Master Plan A and Conceptual Master Plan B). Both plans are available on the District’s website under Blueprint QV (The study is named High School Conceptual Site Planning Update). A final masterplan had not yet been designed or if either of these two conceptual master plans met the needs of the District. BSHM and Bohlin Cywinski Jackson will develop that final approved mater plan.

• This is an iterative design process. Community engagement sessions in 2017 yielded the “dream”. The scenario from the community with every wish included. This led to an overall estimated square footage and long-range plan to accommodate this wishlist. Then John Thomas of Thomas and Williams took those wishes and right-sized it down to meet the demographics of the building and the current programming and anticipatory future plans (potential expansions of tech focused labs etc). This “right-sizing” takes all the hopes and dreams and puts it into a realistic lens for the size of our building population and our programming. This results in a reduced square footage which also reduces the overall estimate. The educational program provided by BrainSpaces in 2017 was a wish list of items provided by the community and teachers. This wish list amounted to a building size of approximately 230,000 sqft. Again this was a wish list and the program had to reconciled.

Will we get a new stadium?

• Building a new stadium is not part of the current project or the application submitted to Leet Township zoning board.

• The proposed site plan includes an athletic field to accommodate the physical educational needs of the students. However, the site will be planned to have adequate utility capacity for when the School Board decides to develop the stadium at the new site in the future.

• Building a new stadium is an alternate inclusion that depending on the bidding process. It could be included at this time or we may opt to consider a different future plan regarding the stadium. The good news is, the current stadium is in fine working order and can service the district for years to come. As the stadium ages, and other debt falls off the books, the stadium can be built with little tax impact

Are we really past the point where we can’t consider other options?

• Yes

Why can’t we build where the current High School is?

• The current land only offers approximately 3 useable acres.

• Challenges with the existing site are the following:

  • Previous placed fill and sand soils underlying the site

  • Upper Freeport Coal Seal under the site

  • Ground water migration through the site

  • Staying put does not solve the Beaver Street traffic problems or parking problems.

What about building up the land on the lower side of the land?

• Building up the lower part of the plot (which is located in the 100 year flood plain) would require years of permitting (including from FEMA), disrupting the floodplain and the local waterways, which we would not be guaranteed to get. And if we did get the necessary permits, we then spend millions upon millions building up 8 feet losing tons of budget just to moving dirt. In addition, to mitigate the loss of 9.6 acres of floodplain area the District would need to acquire additional land within this floodplain in order to place this volume/cubic yardage of water, which would be displaced by developing a new high school in the floodplain.

• Here’s the video posted on the school website from 2017 where they reviewed many of these points https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9X0Afyx3PY

Not to mention . . .

• Renovating the existing building would leave nearly one full generation of HS students with no building whatsoever - 3 years in mobile classrooms - no one wants that.

Is the land where the new school will be stable?

• Like most building projects in western PA, the land is complicated but not impossible. It has been studied extensively throughout the years and our civil engineers and architects have no concerns. In short, yes. The engineers selected for the project have stated that the current site is stable, however what is planned for the geology of the site is to increase the safety stability factor, which means to make the site even more stable that it currently is.

The Finances

No major infrastructure investment comes without cost implications. Based on the program of study designed by Thomas and Williamson Associates, the cost estimates for a new building are between $85M-$95M

1. What is a program of study design?

   • Thomas and Williamson assessed the site, geotechnical studies, demographic studies, community input studies, and district offerings (classes, sports, arts etc) to determine an overall outline of the types of spaces, numbers of classrooms, bathrooms locker rooms and the like that the district would need. See his full presentation here; program design starts on slide 32.

2. What is the tax impact for me?

   • Assuming an average assessed value of $227,000 (remember that's assessed value not retail value) the cost will be between $182-$218 per year. Full presentation here.