A STEP FORWARD
Talks continue: North Penn High School studies could be ready in April Findings: Traffic, hazmat studies nearly done; master plan meetings ongoing
LANSDALE >> Talks are continuing on a planned renovation of North Penn High School, as several studies approach various stages of completion.
School board members heard an update Monday night on those various studies, and an updated timeline for when an overall high school master plan could be ready.
“Visiting the state-of-theart high schools is now completed. We visited our last high school on March 18,” said district Director of Facilities and Operations Tom Schneider.
Last summer the school board approved a master plan study looking at uses for the high school campus, as part of a long-discussed renovation of the entire high school, and/or the addition of a new wing to house ninth grade students that would be moved from the district’s three middle schools, and have since approved contracts for several studies meant to feed into the master plan.
Schneider gave an update on that overall process on Monday night, along with the latest on the various studies. District staff visited the State College Area High School in mid-March to see an example of a similar-sized high school that recently underwent a major renovation with a new addition, and earlier visits included Upper Merion and Springfield, Delaware County high schools in January and Meridian High School in Virginia in February. Based on those visits, district staff continue to hold meetings with architects The Schrader Group to plan the programs and configuration of the new high school, including talks last week on interior athletics including physical education, and this week on ninth grade program configuration and what that could look like at the high school.
“Schrader Group comes in and discusses, with the team of people, what is necessary in the building for 21st-century learning,” Schneider said.
As for the studies: a hazardous materials study examining substances throughout the current high school has been received, and staff are working with the consultant to develop estimates on the costs for remediation and/or removal of those substances.
“Basically, they know where the vinyl asbestos floor tile is located, where any other types of asbestos or PCB compounds are located in the building, they did a lead sampling around the building for any lead paint,” Schneider said. Board member Cathy Wesley asked if and when the facilities committee could and would
see that report, and Schneider said he’d provide a summary once analysis is complete. Wesley then asked if Schrader was still on target to give presentations to the committee and full board over the summer, likely in June or July, about their work so far, and Schneider said they could.
“We do have moving parts, and we’ll keep the facilities and operations committee informed of any changes,” he said.
As for the traffic study, video cameras and counting equipment were installed on March 9 at the high school’s driveway entrances to Valley Forge Road and Snyder Road, at the district bus garage just behind the high school, and at the intersections of Valley Forge and Sumneytown Pike, Snyder and Valley Forge, and Snyder and Troxel Road, Schneider told the committee.
“That data has been collected, and we are now working toward getting all of the traffic counts,” with the final traffic study likely to be done sometime in April, he said.
A third sub-study for the high school master plan, a student enrollment study and projections to be done by the Montgomery County Planning Commission, will also likely be complete in April, according to Schneider. Upcoming milestones in the master planning process include further conceptual planning and design meetings and workshops, including some with students giving feedback, then concept presentations toward the end of April, followed by pre-design estimates likely in May.
“We’re anticipating having a concept to review sometime at the end of June, for possibly submission to the board for a first look around July,” he said.
An updated schedule with those upcoming dates was included in the committee’s meeting materials for March 28, and is updated as those milestones are reached, Schneider said. Board member Juliane Ramic said she’d like to see a high-schoolthemed repeat of a public school board meeting held at Knapp Elementary School in January 2020 to give the public a preview of planned renovations there, and Schneider said the summer meetings could fill a similar role for the high school project.
One other item relating to the high school was discussed briefly during the committee meeting: Schneider asked the board to approve a set of service contracts for the upcoming 2022-23 fiscal year, that would include asphalt, paving, concrete work, tree removal, and boiler and chiller service contracts. Board member Jonathan Kassa asked if those contracts would impact plans to repave parts of the high school’s driveway where potholes have developed over the nowending winter, and Schneider said they would not.
“With the price of asphalt fluctuating quite a bit over the course of a year, we do this annually, just so we have a contract for the full year. We are in contact, with a contractor currently under contract, for asphalt patching for the work at the high school,” Schneider said.
The North Penn school board next meets at 7 p.m. April 21, and the facilities and operations committee next meets at 7 p.m. April 25, both online. For more information visit www. NPenn.org.