School project debated
Amid public speculation that the Uniontown Area School Board is drifting back to the original $43 million high school renovation plan, one board member pledged Monday not to vote for costly renovations, while another said he would not vote to tear down the school’s 1910-11 section. Although no new plans were presented, the Rev. Peter Malik, spokesman for the Citizens Group Committee charged with providing input into renovations, told the board he feels “frustrated” that over a year of public outcry is being ignored.
His comments come after Mark Altman, architect for the high school project, presented the board with four options, two of which had an estimated project cost of $34.8 million, one of which included demolishing the building’s 1910 section that a group of taxpayers earlier pushed to preserve, at a September board meeting.
Malik said when the board voted to scrap the original $43 million plan in June, “the public stopped coming because they thought the board had heard them.
“I know we’re drifting backwards, but please don’t think we’ve vanished,” said Malik.
Board member William Rittenhouse Jr. responded to the speculation. He said the board is “not drifting anywhere and definitely not backwards.
“There’s no action going on behind the scenes to where we’re going to tear the old section of the school down,” Rittenhouse said. “I think some board members are trying to compromise and see some things they are concerned about addressed.”
Rittenhouse said the last thing he wanted to do was have a consultant “come in and look at numbers” for a high cost, but “sometimes you have to have one to see if you’re doing it right” when there are questions.
He said he is confident that when a good plan does come along, everyone’s ideas will be put on the table to hopefully incorporate into a new plan.
“Hopefully, we can incorporate some ideas of the citizens group committee, if not all,” he said.
The board in August hired Foreman Architects to review the high school project. The group is about 30 days into the 90-day review process.
School board member Dorothy Grahek said to save the 1910-11 section, the school district would have to spend more money, according to the letters she has received. She asked Rittenhouse if he’s willing to do that.
“If it takes a little more to save the old section, I’m willing to do that, but I’m only one vote,” Rittenhouse replied.
“We already have $2.5 million invested in plans …We can’t scrap it all and start over. We have to utilize some of that data we already have,” he added.
School board member Ken Meadows reiterated his disagreement to vote for a new plan that carries with it a high price tag – a position he said he has held all along.
At both May and June board meetings, Meadows introduced motions to place an overall $30 million spending cap on the high school project. Both of the motions failed 4-5.
Meadows said the board must funnel the most money toward classroom space and only renovate other areas, including the gymnasium. He will not vote for a plan that includes building an athletic facility, he said.
In September, the board authorized Altman to submit another plan that includes locating the proposed education tower in the Wilson Avenue parking lot and a cost estimate for constructing a field house for the high school’s athletic program.
Meadows also said he will not vote to borrow any more money, including $7 million in Qualified Zone Academy Bonds (QZAB) the district was approved for by the state Department of Education.
“That’s where I’ve been and that’s where I’m going to stay,” said Meadows. “Crowd or no crowd, election or no election, that’s where I’m going to stay.”
Meadows, who acted as board president in Ron Machesky’s absence, also told the Citizens Group Committee that the superintendent will look into the contract with Foreman Architects, consultant hired to review the project, to see if it includes considering input from the group.
In another matter, the board accepted the retirement of Lisbeth C. Robison as special education teacher at Menallen School, and hired Jamie P. Addis as a second-grade teacher at Lafayette School.
The board approved paying the Fayette County Area Vocational-Technical School $171,801 over a five-year period as a result of an audit by the state Department of Education, which said the district must refund the vo-tech school the money.
Grahek, vo-tech representative to the board, said the amount is a debt the district has carried for at least 20 years as a result of litigation in the formula to fund the vo-tech school.
District business manager Floyd Geho said the matter has been through the county’s common pleas court twice and was never resolved.
He said the district has included the payments in the annual budget.
The board in further matters tabled approving Gerald Shimko as a volunteer coach for the high school girls varsity basketball team with endorsement as head coach for this school year.