Residents Speak Out At Pennsbury Hearing On New High School

Credit: Christina Kristofic/LevittownNow.com

Many of the people who spoke at a hearing on Thursday about plans to build a new Pennsbury High School criticized the school district for giving a presentation that was “light on facts.”

“You’re an education facility. You’re supposed to be making us smarter,” said Jennifer Metzger, of Falls Township.

“You want us to believe that you can build a building, but you can’t even build a presentation.”

Pennsbury school administrators gave their presentation in the gym of Fallsington Elementary School. The school board members, staff, and consultants sat on one half of the basketball court, while the audience of about 100 community members sat on the other half of the court; a belt barrier separated the two groups. Opponents of the project, mostly people who identified as senior citizens and/or long-time residents of the district, sat together, and supporters of the project, mostly people who identified as parents and/or new residents of the district, sat together.

School administrators shared a slideshow outlining the project on two screens positioned at the mid-court line. The screens faced the center of the basketball court, rather than the crowd.

The district’s presentation lasted about 15 minutes.

Pennsbury superintendent Dr. Thomas Smith said the district needs to build a new high school because its existing facilities — two buildings and a natatorium that are not connected to each other — are old, outdated, and not in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. He also said the disconnected buildings create “physical and security issues.”

Smith and consultants for the district glossed over the three building options and four funding options the district had considered. Administrators want to build a new 497,000-square-foot high school building on the south side of the current campus on Hood Boulevard. Building a new school would be less disruptive to students and staff than renovating the existing buildings, they said.

The board has already approved a maximum project cost of more than $269 million, and plans to fund the project through a general obligation bond.

Architects showed rough floor plans and renderings of the proposed new building.

When district administrators and consultants finished their presentation, many in the audience — both supporters and opponents of the project — had the same question: How much will the project cost them?

District administrators and consultants had talked about raising the tax rate by 14.6 mills and what that would generate in revenue for the district, but they had not talked about what it would cost the average homeowner.

Opponents of the project peppered administrators and the consultants with questions that had not been answered in the district’s presentation:

Why can’t the district just renovate the buildings it already has? How much would renovations cost?

Has anyone considered why there’s not already a building on the part of the campus where the school board wants to build the new school?

How can the school board keep the costs to $269 million in the current economic climate, with inflation and tariffs? How will it prevent cost overruns?

How does reducing the overall footprint of the high school facilities from about 600,000 square feet to about 500,000 square feet make sense?

What percentage of the proposed new building will be classroom space and what percent will be athletic facilities?

How much artificial turf would the new facility have? Are district officials concerned about the forever chemicals in artificial turf?

They asked about small details, including the locations of HVAC units, elevators, and maintenance closets; the design of bathrooms and “learning stairs”; and management of shared classrooms.

“Why is this a decision that the board is making?” asked Kathy Wilson Haines, of Falls Township.

“Why is this not being put to a referendum?”

Pennsbury administrators and consultants sat quietly for more than two hours and listened to the audience.

Some of the answers are available in a 50-page booklet on the district website. Project information is available for review at the Pennsbury School District Administration Offices at 134 Yardley Ave. in Fallsington.

Pennsbury residents can submit questions and written comments until 4 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 6. All comments should be submitted to the district’s chief financial officer.

District administrators plan to consider bids for the construction project in November or December, according to a timeline on the district website.

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