May 13, 2007 By Rebekah Sungala 9 min read

A controversial $35 million high school renovation project has 11 candidates battling for five available seats on Uniontown Area School Board in the upcoming primary. All have cross-filed and will be on both the Democratic and Republican tickets. The project has caused a riff between several current school directors and members of a citizens advisory group who are against spending the entire $35 million on the high school.

Current school directors Tammy J. Boyle, Charles C. Castor, Susan S. Clay and Kenneth G. Meadows are seeking re-election. School director Nancy Herring, whose term ends in December, is not running, leaving one uncontested seat open.

The challengers are Paul H. Bortz Sr., Alan George, Janet Warchol Guthrie, Philip Holt, Grace Miller, Timothy B. Sandstrom and Vincent Winfrey.

During a recent debate with the Herald-Standard editorial board broadcast on HSTV, three of the four incumbents said they favored spending about $35 million renovations at the high school.

Only one incumbent, Ken Meadows, was against spending the entire $35 million on the renovation project, while five challengers said they are also against spending all the money on the high school. Two challengers said they are undecided and would need to review information before making a sound decision.

High school project

Incumbent school directors Boyle, Castor and Clay said they are in favor of spending $34.8 million to renovate the high school and build a “tower” that will house much-needed classrooms. All three of the candidates said renovations are desperately needed, noting the current high school is in deplorable condition despite valiant efforts from the maintenance staff.

Boyle, who is serving her second term on the school board and is an administrative assistant to the county commissioners, said the money to complete the project has already been borrowed and is sitting in the bank. Boyle said the high school was last renovated in the 1980s, noting that technology has changed since then.

“We are to the max at what we can plug in, literally,” she said, adding that breakers often kick because of overloads from computers. Boyle said she’s also in favor of using the 1910 section of the high school as a junior high for seventh- and eighth-graders.

Boyle said the school district would save money by turning the 1910 section into a junior high. Renovation cost for needed work at the two elementary schools in Uniontown – Ben Franklin and Lafayette – would be minimal, she said, noting that the other elementary schools in the district have already been renovated.

Castor, a nine-year veteran of the school board who previously served two terms on the board before losing in the last election and being reappointed in December 2006, said high school children deserve to have a safe and up-to-date building that can handle the electrical load from computers and other technical equipment.

“If we don’t look out for our children who will? Our school is in bad shape,” the retired production foreman commented.

Likewise Clay, who’s served 20 years as a school director and is the current board president, said a renovated high school would be an “asset to students and the community.” Clay said people would be more willing to move into the district knowing their children would attend school in a modern building.

Meadows, the only incumbent not in favor of spending the entire $35 million on the renovation project, said he favors spending about $24 million on renovations at the high school.

Serving his fourth term as a school director, Meadows, an elementary principal in another school district, said all of the current school directors agree the high school needs to be renovated.

However, he said they disagree when it comes to the cost. Meadows said he believes about $10 to $11 million can be shaved off the proposed $35 million project by getting rid of the extras, such as building a new gymnasium when the old one can be renovated.

“We all agree as far as education needs,” he said, noting that he feels spending $35 million on the high school alone is “way too much money.”

Meadows said he’s against turning the 1910 section into a junior high.

Like Meadows, challengers Bortz, George, Holt, Sandstrom and Winfrey say spending $35 million on high school renovations is an exorbitant amount.

Bortz, a past school board member and former mayor of Uniontown, said he’s against the current proposed project because he believes taxpayers have been “left in the dark” when it comes to how much the project will really cost, noting that Ben Franklin and Lafayette elementary schools also need renovated, as does the A.J. McMullen Middle School.

George, a self-employed businessman who owns an insurance company, said he is against the proposed project because he supports fiscal responsibility and doesn’t believe spending $35 million at the high school is fiscally responsible.

Saying the school district is already in debt, George said the school board should try to get renovation costs down from $175 a square foot to $100.

Also a business owner, Holt agreed work needs done at the high school, saying the newer part of the building renovated in the ’80s is in worse shape than the 1910 section. However, he said spending $35 million on the high school is not the answer.

Holt said “somebody has to watch over the project” and make sure money is not wasted.

A member of the citizens advisory committee opposing the $35 million renovations, Sandstrom, who unsuccessfully ran for school board in 2003, said elementary children attending Ben Franklin and Lafayette won’t get a “better school” if all of the $35 million is spent on high school renovations.

Currently self-employed, Sandstrom said he wants students to receive an education that lets them compete with those who attend bigger schools, but said it must be done at a “reasonable cost.”

Winfrey, pastor of the Mount Olivet Baptist Church, said he’s more concerned with curriculum than he is with the proposed renovation project. Noting that he believes the project will exceed $35 million, Winfrey said he doesn’t believe a new gym and big kitchen area is needed.

“I’m a sports man, but we don’t need a new gym,” he said. “I’m in favor of fixing the things we need.”

Saying they are undecided when it comes to the proposed high school project, newcomers Guthrie and Miller both said they would need to review more information before forming an opinion.

Guthrie, who works as an office and finance manager for the Community Foundation of Fayette County and as an EMT, said current plans for the proposed project have been reviewed by the state Department of Education, lending credibility to the project. However, she said she would have to review information given to school directors before making a decision.

Guthrie said students deserve to receive a good education in a “stable” building but said it can’t be done at the taxpayer’s expense.

Miller, a local businesswoman who ran unsuccessfully for school board in 2001 and 2004, said she toured the high school recently and it “scared her to death.” Miller said there were places in the building where the lights would go out if you touched the walls.

“We need to make the schools safe,” she said, saying she is still undecided as to whether or not the school board should spend the entire $35 million on renovations at the high school.

“I’m not for or against it,” Miller said.

Ballot question

As for whether or not a referendum should have been placed on the May 15 ballot concerning the high school renovation project, four of the candidates said they were in favor of giving residents the chance to vote, while two candidates said they were against it and five candidates were noncommittal.

The citizens advisory committee petitioned to have a referendum question placed on the ballot, but the Fayette County Election Bureau recently denied their request, saying it was worded incorrectly.

Bortz, Holt, Sandstrom and Winfrey said the referendum should have been placed on the ballot.

“People should have had the right to vote,” Holt said, noting that the May 15 election will now have to act as the referendum.

Sandstrom agreed, saying residents should have a say. “I think Uniontown taxpayers should have the ability to voice their opinions,” he said.

Against the referendum, Castor and Clay said the school directors were elected to represent the people. Castor said once elected it should be up to school directors to make the decisions, while Clay said the current school board had the choice of either having a referendum placed on the ballot or having an Act 34 hearing before moving forward with the high school project.

Clay said the school board decided to have an Act 34 hearing, which was publicly advertised, and that no residents attended the hearing and voiced opposition to the renovations, which were at that time expected to cost about $45 million and have since been reduced to about $35 million.

“No one showed up with questions or problems,” she said, noting that no objections were heard until the school board considered tearing down the 1910 section of the school, which was when the board compromised with the citizens advisory committee and came up with the idea of saving money by leaving the section standing and using it as a junior high.

“We’ve worked with those against the project,” Clay said, adding that the school board has reduced the cost of the project by about $10 million.

Indifferent to whether or not a referendum was placed on the ballot, Boyle, George, Guthrie and Meadows all said the primary will serve as the referendum, while Miller said she didn’t believe taxpayers could have voted without being given all the information.

“I didn’t care one way or another,” Boyle said. Saying she believes those in favor of spending $34.8 million to renovate the high school will vote for those candidates who are in favor of it, Boyle said “May 15 will be the referendum.”

Guthrie said she had “mixed feelings” about the referendum, saying she believes the question was too open ended. If the referendum had been worded differently, Guthrie said she may have been in favor of it.

Agreeing with Guthrie, Meadows said the referendum done the correct way could have been beneficial. Meadows said everyone agrees the high school building needs updated, but also said it’s important to note the school district has a $4 million debt service.

“A referendum done in the right way would have been a good thing, but I think the election itself is a referendum,” he said.