LH board receives renovation estimate
Laurel Highlands School Board got a $7.9 million estimate Tuesday to renovate Hutchinson Elementary School. “It’s a ballpark,” Superintendent Dr. Ronald Sheba said of the figure.
John Over of project manager K2 Inc. told the school board during a work session that the Hutchinson building in Hopwood could be renovated and expanded, adding 14,000 square feet of space to the 40,000-square-foot building, at a cost of $7.9 million. He said that project could include eight new classrooms, an addition on the kitchen, an elevator and lobby and a teachers lounge.
Over commented that interest rates are favorable now for a project like this.
He recommended that the school board make a decision soon on whether they want to renovate and expand the Hutchinson school, to allow plenty of time for planning. He suggested a decision by May would allow the planning and design process to get under way and the work to be completed within two years, by August 2005.
Sheba said the issue of improving the Hutchinson school came out of the strategic planning talks that began last October. He said discussions concerned the Hutchinson building as well as Kennedy Elementary School, which both were built in 1964. He said the school board has taken no related action.
Director Mary Conway commented that the Kennedy school needs attention and has been left out while other schools are being renovated.
The school board previously dismissed an idea that came out of the strategic planning talks that concerned closing one of the district’s five elementary schools. No school was named, but the administrators and school board talked about short- and long-term cost savings of such a move.
The school board planned a public hearing but canceled it and took the issue no further.
Meanwhile, Over said contractors, for the most part, are finished with the $9.2 million project to renovate and expand the junior high school, which will open in the fall as a middle school.
He said only the contractors who are completing the casework remain on the job.
The school board last month hired F. DeFranks & Son Custom Cabinets Inc. to finish the casework, after the board terminated a contract with VMI Cabinets and Millwork when the company went out of business with no advance warning.
Solicitor Gary Frankhouser said the school district has received $25,003 in liquidated damages so far from the VMI situation, and the school board may expect another installment.
The school board had agreed to accept a settlement with Fidelity and Deposit Co. of Maryland, surety for VMI, for $44,894.73.
Over said about $200,000 is left in the construction fund, and the school board may decide to revisit a couple of items originally left off the junior high school project, such as the purchase of a new emergency generator, a new sound system at the auditorium stage or a new dimmer board for the stage lighting.
Among other matters, the school board discussed security within the schools.
Director Beverly Beal started the conversation, saying she was glad to see Fayette County juvenile probation officers working in the high school.
Sheba explained the officers visit the high school, and sometimes the junior high school, for a minimum number of visits at a flat fee. He said the officers have been involved with the district about two years and are used in the buildings as often as needed.
Beal suggested the school district may need to add a security officer at the junior high school, saying she has received calls from parents about the school.
“We’ve had some issues there, as you always do in every building, where we have fights. We always call police and get the students cited,” Sheba said.
He did not give specifics but said the district reports all incidents to the state Department of Education. He also said he does not think there is an increase in incidents.
However, Sheba said the administration has tried to take a proactive approach to security in the schools and he has joined with the local NAACP, members of the clergy, Penn State Fayette personnel and representatives of a couple human relations agencies to devise a peer program and start focus groups. He said California University of Pennsylvania has a program on tolerance, anti-bullying, anti-hazing and character education issues that may be useful in the district. He added all faculty will be required to attend “sensitivity” training.
He said after the meeting that no specific incident prompted the meetings.
“We’re trying to be proactive. When they talk about fights, all schools have fights. There is nothing new this year, other than we’re trying to be proactive,” he said.
Sheba said the administration also is getting price quotes on digital video cameras for the high school and junior high school.
Director Judy Browell said she got a call recently from a mother whose ninth-grade daughter is afraid to go to school. She said the mother told her of two recent fights in the high school and asked for a weekly report of such incidents to keep the school board apprised of what goes on in the schools.
Director Angelo Giachetti agreed, saying he often gets calls on the weekend and does not know how to respond when he is not aware of an incident.
President Edward S. George disagreed, calling such a report a case of micromanagement.
Sheba said the administration progressively handles discipline with review meetings, sometimes weekly, that do not concern the school board.
He said he cannot even say much to board members about discipline issues until a situation requires board action.
Dr. Gary Brain, director of secondary education, said the school district has held 98 discipline reviews so far this year. Brain suggested school board members refer related questions to him, Sheba or a principal “because we can do something about it.”