Official criticizes project transparency

School board member says district not sharing full details of $12M expansion

“I didn’t feel that there was anything new (in the town hall) that has not been covered in the property meetings, in our work sessions and board meetings here.” — Colleen Zasowski, Spring-Ford Area School Board member

ROYERSFORD >> The March 23 town hall meeting on the proposed $12.1 million high school expansion was very well received by the public, officials in SpringFord said at a recent school board meeting.

But any goodwill generated from the town hall presentation wasn’t enough to curb school board member Mark Dehnert from criticizing the project’s supposed lack of details and transparency.

The information presented at the town hall was different than what had been presented to the full board previously, he said, and he wanted to know the full details on the cost of the project. Others on the board accused him of simply playing politics.

“I would consider transparency to be the board got to see the figures and understood the figures, got to ask questions about the figures before they were presented at the town hall,” Dehnert said, “which none of that happened. They were different numbers than we had seen before.”

The project’s current design calls for a 27,900-square-foot expansion of the school. Included would be a 17,200-square-foot physical education center and a 10,700-square-foot performing arts center attached to the nearly 400,000-square-foot building. For just those two expansions, the estimated price ranges between $8.5 million to a high of $9.9 million, according to the architecture

design firm Crabtree, Rohrbach and Associates.

The district has also proposed the addition of a 6,930-square-foot hallway to help clear up heavy congestion around the cafeteria at lunch time that would tack an additional $2 million to $2.2 million onto the project. If all three projects are approved, the estimated total cost ranges from $10.5 million to $12.1 million, Chief Financial Officer James Fink said last Thursday.

At the Sept. 19 board meeting, the figures looked slightly different. The design originally called for a 24,000-squarefoot expansion of the school. Included was a 14,000-square-foot physical education center and a 9,800-square-foot performing arts center. The estimated price-showed that range beginning at a low of $7.8 million to a high of $9.3 million.

The change in price range can be attributed to minor changes to the proposed project’s footprint, board President Tom DiBello said Monday. Also, the proposed new hallway is considered an alternate addition that does not need to happen if the project becomes too expensive. The board needs to have further discussions on the hallway project before any decisions can be made, he said.

In addition, Dehnert said at the last board property committee meeting, there was talk the project could cost as much as $15 million. Board President Joe Ciresi and DiBello said previously the mandate from the board was for the price not to exceed $10 million.

To support his argument, Dehnert said he felt it was unclear, for example, whether the project’s price tag presented Thursday focused solely on construction costs or if it also included other things like the cost to purchase a bond. While the property committee may have had presentations on the topic, the board at large did not. The price range was the all inclusive total estimated cost, said Bruce Cooper, director of planning, operations and facilities.

The other members of the board in attendance Monday said Dehnert was simply playing politics. The board and district have tried to be as transparent as possible about this project.

Everything presented at the town hall had been previously discussed, either at a committee or full board meeting, board member Colleen Zasowksi said. If Dehnert had questions about the project, it was his responsibility to ask them.

“I didn’t feel that there was anything new (in the town hall) that has not been covered in the property meetings, in our work sessions and board meetings here,” she said. “And also in the recent community relations committee meeting where all board members were invited to come.”

An invitation to attend a meeting isn’t the same as having the topic on the committee’s agenda, Dehnert said.

“You keep wanting to sit there and say I wasn’t informed,” board Vice President Tom DiBello said to Dehnert. “Enough.”

After the meeting, DiBello echoed Ciresi’s comments made last week when he reiterated Dehnert’s complaints was purely for political purposes. “Their whole thing in 2013 when Joe (Ciresi) and I ran there was the $7 million to $8 million fitness center, which never existed,” he said. “Then in 2015 it was a $12 million fitness center that never existed. We’ve got an election coming up and the funny thing is they always use it against me. Next thing you know it will be the $15 million fitness center that never existed. It is political. It’s totally political.”

As of now, he said, the goal is to have Crabtree present the finalized information about the entire project at the next board property committee meeting and, barring any needed changes, make the same presentation to the full board at its next meeting in April.

“I would consider transparency to be the board got to see the figures and understood the figures, got to ask questions about the figures before they were presented at the town hall.” — Mark Dehnert, Spring-Ford Area School Board member