Credit: Neshaminy School District
A favorable borrowing market and a growing need is pushing the Neshaminy School District to consider replacing an elementary school and upgrading other aging facilities.
In a statement made public Thursday and comments made during last week’s school board meeting, officials cited the aging physical plant at Pearl S. Buck Elementary School on Top Road in Middletown Township’s Levittown section as forcing their review of either replacing or repairing the building to become accelerated.
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Last week, School Board President Stephen Pirritano said the district has been looking at options for more than a year.
The Neshaminy School Board Facilities Committee recently had preliminary discussions on building a new elementary school at the Maple Point Middle School site, which has enough room for a second building, or extensive renovations at Pearl S. Buck; parking lot, roof, and HVAC replacements at other district schools; and athletic field and outdoor facility renovations at Neshaminy High School.
Pearl S. Buck, which sits on 13 acres of land, was opened in 1968 and has received no major renovations, according to information provided at a 2014 school board meeting. The only other district school not renovated since opening was Oliver Heckman Elementary School on the Langhorne Borough and Middletown Township border, which closed in 2016.
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“Pearl Buck has issues that need to be addressed … we need to think that we either make a major investment in that facility or we move toward a new facility,” Pirritano said.
John Allen, the school board vice president, said the district has problems getting parts and making repairs to some equipment. He said some of the infrastructure from 1968 was a bit experimental for its time and not everything works correctly. However, he cautioned that the board’s plans are “very preliminary.”
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In addition to the upgrades needed at Pearl S. Buck, the school board is looking at low borrowing rates and advantageous bond markets as a benefit to embarking on projects sooner rather than later.
“This is a unique opportunity to carry out needed facility improvements while retaining fiscally responsible budgeting,” Pirritano said.
In recent weeks, the board facilities committee heard proposals from Spiezle Architectural Group and SitelogIQ, which was formerly Reynolds Construction, on conceptual sites and facility concepts for a possible new elementary school in Middletown Township.
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Pirritano said the facilities committee has requested a proposal from Spiezle Architectural Group for a district-wide elementary needs study. The facilities committee also asked SitelogIQ to prepare an evaluation of the Pearl S. Buck building.
Credit: Neshaminy School District
The district had Guaranteed Energy Savings Act (GESA) upgrades and renovations at six schools and opened the new Tawanka Elementary School in Lower Southampton Township over the past several years.
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The GESA projects and Tawanka construction were funded mostly by a $58 million 2015 bond. The remaining costs were covered by a district fund set up to pay for building projects.
Over the past decade, the district completed a long-discussed roadmap for their facilities, which included the upgrades, building Tawanka, and closing Heckman, Samuel Everitt Elementary School in Middletown Township, and Lower Southampton Elementary School.
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Pirritano said the school board committees will work to keep the community in the loop and allow them to participate.
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