$7M LIMIT SET ON SCHOOL PROJECTS
New school entrance and modular classrooms among proposed additions
PHOENIXVILLE >> The Phoenixville Area School District is moving forward on a plan to beef up security at the high school and address rising enrollment projections, officials said Thursday.
The school board unanimously authorized the administration to proceed with the high school space and security project, which aims to create a new entrance to the school and install modular classrooms. The authorization to proceed, according to the district, is based on the following direction: The total cost of the project will not exceed $7 million, including all fees, professional services and construction. The target completion date for the project is Aug. 15, 2018. However, the board will consider an up to one-year delay with completion by Aug. 15, 2019, if necessary, to do the project without unnecessary undue haste. Phoenixville Borough approvals will be obtained after working collaboratively with the borough. The project will result in a secure
main entrance to the school and the addition of six full classrooms and two seminar rooms in the existing courtyard near the library.
“We’re talking about needed classroom space and upgraded security at the high school,” said Stan Johnson, executive director of operations, during a presentation.
At the April 6 meeting, the board estimated the project to cost approximately $5.5 million.
The goal of the new entrance would be to slow down a proposed intruder, Johnson said. There have been two main options discussed. The first would be a double entry secure entrance at the current
main entrance to the high school in front of the auditorium. The two layer entrance contains a secured locked area where visitors are greeted and then a second layer which enters into the school. The design is the same as what’s being installed at the Phoenixville Area Early Learning Center and Manavon Elementary School, scheduled to open this fall.
“The current entrance at the high school is not secure,” Johnson said. Currently the main entrance to the high school is the auditorium. Previously it was the cafeteria. “It is being made to work through the good efforts of the administration at the high school and the staff that work over there. But the unfortunate reality is someone entering that entrance as it currently is constituted could quickly
and easily get into the rest of the building, get lost and could cause lots of havoc.”
The second option discussed option modifies the entrance to the building by creating two entrances, Johnson said. One would be the main, secured entrance used during the school day. The other would only be used when the district holds public events at the auditorium. The design also calls for the restrooms to be relocated as the current layout forces the public to use the restrooms located near the cafeteria.
After the district reviewed the two entrance designs with the chiefs of police from the Schuylkill Township and Phoenixville Borough police departments, their recommendation was to incorporate elements from both proposals.
“They said both would be
an improvement from what we currently have,” Johnson said. The second option though they said does provide more in terms of security for normal school and evening operations. It also happens to be more expensive.
The district then tasked the architect to revise the project’s design.
With the modular classrooms, Johnson said the high school will face an enrollment “crunch” in the coming years. The district tries to size enrollment in its facilities at about 85 percent capacity.
“An unfortunate reality at the high school is we’ve been over the 85 percent since 2014,” he said. According to the district, a 10 year projection based off of enrollment from 2013-2016 shows the school will be at maximum capacity by the
year 2020.
That’s why the plan is to install six permanent prefabricated modular classrooms and two seminar rooms in the existing courtyard near the library.
Modulars should not be confused with portables. Portables, or trailers, are buildings commonly found on construction sites that can last up to six years. Modular buildings have a life expectancy of about 40 years, Johnson said, and can be built quickly off-site and dropped into place by a crane. They also have the advantages of possibly being lower in cost than normal construction and can be installed during a small window for construction such as the district’s June-September timeline. Modular buildings are commonly used as additions
to places that already exist, such as healthcare facilities like Frankford Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
After the Johnson’s presentation, board member Joshua Gould made clear the school board wasn’t approving any project. It was just allowing the administration to move forward with the normal design process. The project would still have to go through several phases including land development and the request for proposal phase.
“We’re not authorizing spending $7 million,” he said. Johnson agreed. “The administration just wants a target to aim towards,” he said. “It doesn’t mean that’s what we’re going to spend. It’s just a target.”