School board addresses capital improvement plan

Highlights include $14M in projects

The North Allegheny school board on Nov. 7 discussed the 2019 capital improvement plan, which highlights $14 million in projects in addition to the planned expansion of Franklin Elementary School and the renovation of McKnight Elementary.

The board also held a state-mandated public hearing on the Franklin expansion, which has a maximum project cost of $33 million. That amounts to $1.4 million in average debt annually, and an impact of 0.241 mills in taxes.

No one presented evidence during the Franklin hearing other than the architect. One resident said he would email his questions to administrators instead of speaking.

Most of the projects in the 2019 capital improvement plan are maintenance and cosmetic work at the schools, such as repairing paving. The biggest plans are at the intermediate high school, including installing turf and lights on the baseball, football, softball and soccer fields, resurfacing the track and replacing or constructing dugouts for the baseball and softball fields.

“If it is in here, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will be done,” said member Richard McClure, chairman of the board’s buildings and grounds committee.

District officials have said that installing turf and lights at those fields will allow sports teams to practice later, save money on renting fields at North Park and allow the rental of the fields to community sports groups. Parents of student-athletes also have said that playing on turf will be safer for their children than playing on uneven grass fields.

Board member Kevin Mahler said the cost of the turf — approximately half of the cost of all projects in the plan — is giving him “heartburn.”

“The benefit is huge, but we have to start talking about tax increases if we are going to keep things like this,” said Christopher Disque, chairman of the finance committee. “One project is going to eat up 20 percent of funds from last year’s tax hike. We have to get our heads around that tax increases are going to have to go along with this stuff.”

The plan prioritizes projects with $2.5 million in the top priority; $11.1 million, including the turf, in the second priority; and $599,000 in the lowest priority.

One of the top priority items is installing “impact resistant ballistic window film” at the main entrance areas of all facilities. The bulletproof film was recommended by McCandless police when they did a security check of buildings.

Another top priority is purchasing lawn equipment to move maintenance of the grounds in-house. While the expense is high the first year, it will save money in the long run and give the district more control over the condition of its fields, said Superintendent Robert Scherrer.

The capital plan for technology includes bringing interactive classrooms to the three middle schools, as well as Bradford Woods, Hosack, Ingomar, Marshall and Peebles elementary schools.

The transportation plan calls for replacing five large buses and purchasing three more large buses and one small bus with a lift. The plan also includes replacing a 10-ton dump truck and three support vehicles, adding a 5-ton dump truck for lawn care and purchasing lawn maintenance equipment.

The total cost of all vehicles and equipment is $1.19 million.

Mr. Scherrer said everything in the capital funding plan has been placed into the district’s budget projections.