Board OKs study of high school campus
LANSDALE >> A comprehensive study of North Penn High School, and its surrounding campus, has gotten the go-ahead.
North Penn School Board voted earlier this month to award a master plan contract that could determine the future of the halfcentury-old high school.
“Recommend approval of a contract with Schrader Group Architects for the programming and master planning for the North Penn High School, in the amount of $129,002,” said Assistant Superintendent Todd Bauer.
Renovation and possible expansion of the high school have been discussed since January 2019, starting with a special public meeting at the high school cafeteria. At that time, school board
members toured the school and said they saw the aging utilities, accessibility issues, and infrastructure in need of upgrades throughout the school, which was built in the early 1970s and renovated in pieces over the subsequent two decades. Those tours followed a preliminary study of the school’s needs and current condition in 2018, with early estimates of the price tag of renovations between $138 and $175 million, depending on the size and scale, and not including a new building addition to house ninth grade students.
In May the school board’s facilities and operations committee heard details of a proposal from Schrader, the architectural firm, to update the prior study of the high school, hold several public meetings to gather public input, and put on paper a formal master plan that could be used to bid out a renovation project. District officials have said the study will also include evaluation of possible uses of the former WNPV Radio property adjacent to the high school the district purchased in 2020, and the study contract was put forward by Bauer for a full board vote during their June 17 meeting.
That contract was approved with little discussion from the board during the meeting, but in a district newsletter sent out this week, board President Tina Stoll explained the need for the study.
“At this time, our building in most critical need is North Penn High School — a school that has been operating on the same HVAC and lighting systems since 1971, and hasn’t seen any significant infrastructure improvements since the addition of K-Pod and the pool in 1999,” she said.
Prior to COVID-19, staff and the board had also discussed evaluating whether to move ninth grade students out of the three district middle schools and onto the high school campus, and Stoll said that will also be part of the study.
“On any given day, more than 100 middle school students travel to NPHS for advanced courses, supplemental reading support or remediation, and access to North Montco Technical Career Center,” she said.
“Even more than that number travel to NPHS for extra-curricular activities. A ninth grade center would enable us to provide these same opportunities to all ninth graders at North Penn, opening up doors that many of our students may not currently have access to, including an enhanced media/library center and North Penn’s renowned performing arts, visual arts and STEM spaces,” Stoll said.
A timeline spelled out in the architect’s proposal runs roughly six months, with the first two dedicated to visiting the high school, developing and presenting concepts, and performing topographical and traffic surveys, while the subsequent three months would involve presentations to the board and public, and incorporation of feedback ahead of a final plan adoption.
“While there is much uncertainty regarding the project, one thing is clear — we need more information. We need a plan. And we need help getting there,” Stoll said.
One public comment was made after the board voted to award the contract, by resident Bill Patchell, who said he thought the ninth grade center would “cause a fantastic traffic jam” as student and staff arrive and leave. Patchell also questioned whether the early price estimates were taking into account prevailing wage and recent inflation in the costs of construction materials, saying he felt the cost would be closer to $400 million.
“Your taxes will go up so badly, you’ll be lucky to get a naked light bulb hanging from the center of the classroom. You are being priced out of the ability to redo this infrastructure,” Patchell said.
Facilities and Operations committee chairman Jonathan Kassa then asked district CFO Steve Skrocki about that price estimate.
“Perhaps I’ve missed this, in the years of facilities and operations committee: do we have a $400 million price tag for North Penn High School?” Kassa asked.
“I have no idea where number comes from,” Skrocki replied, and Kassa answered: “Neither do I, so I think it’s important for the community to at least have fact-based discussions, and not just emotional responses.”
North Penn’s school board next meets at 7 p.m. on July 17 and the facilities and operations committee next meets at 7 p.m. on July 26; for more information visit www.NPenn. org.