The Conewago Valley school board focused on the ongoing elementary school renovation projects during its regular board meeting on Monday evening.
The board held an executive session and a study session, then held a regular board meeting immediately afterwards.
Dr. Sharon Perry, the district superintendent, said the board will have a chance to tour all of its buildings in the coming months, starting with the elementary schools. The elementary tours will be held in conjunction with presentations from Crabtree, Rohrbaugh and Associates, the architectural firm helping the school district with its ongoing renovation projects.
Perry reiterated that while the projects are being done close together, the elementary school projects are separate from each other. Currently, Conewago Township Elementary is in the land development process, and township supervisors have also provided feedback.
“I’m extraordinarily grateful with the board of supervisors as well as all of our municipal partners in supporting that project and helping us to move through all of those steps,” Perry said. “There’s a series of dates that we are in attendance to help facilitate that process, and it’s been progressing, dare I say, ahead of schedule. That’s a great thing due to that partnership that we’ve had the opportunity to develop.”
In October, the board will tour the school and view a presentation by Crabtree, Rohrbaugh and Associates before the regular board meeting. In November, a similar process will be followed at New Oxford Elementary.
Earlier on Monday, Perry and other administrators held the first of a series of quarterly meetings with its municipal partners.
“Crabtree, Rohrbaugh (and Associates) did come in to provide an update to our municipal partners, which is helpful,” Perry said. “A lot of really great suggestions came from our partners, and so we can’t do what it is that we’re attempting to do without their partnership and great ideas. Since they’re in the field, they’re very much involved in land development and construction, and so their feedback has been very helpful to us. We appreciate them.”
When asked by a board member why Perry meets with municipality representatives, and whether that signals project progression despite school board reservations about the renovations’ cost estimates, Perry said the meetings provide time for feedback from both sides.
The meetings allow the municipalities and school district to “get on the same page” about potential developments as well as current projects.
“It’s also an opportunity for us to talk about and answer any questions that the municipalities have regarding anything that we’re working on, and most specifically, Adams County Technical Institute potential is of some interest to our municipality partners, as is our projects because, as you know, that will impact at least three of our municipalities, if we’re talking about improvements that we’re making on our buildings within our school district,” Perry said. “That’s the purpose of that. It’s also to verify our enrollment numbers and to compare that to the projects that are certainly happening.”
With some board members still reeling from high site development estimates provided during a meeting last month, both Perry and board president Jeffrey Kindschuh assured the board that no decisions have yet been made.
While the architects and Perry hope the board will be in a position to make decisions in November, Perry said that depending on other factors, that timeline could extend to January.
Without board approval, no final decisions will be made.
“Nothing has been voted on,” Perry said. “We have not yet had the Act 34 hearing. What we have so far is direction from the board to continue to pursue, to investigate, to develop the design and the needs based upon four years of discussion – four and a half years of discussion now – about the necessary improvements to each of our school buildings. Where we are today is the culmination of conversations that have taken place since June of 2021.”
Perry said district administration and the building architectural firm are working together to examine all possibilities so the board has everything it needs to make an informed decision. While some numbers may seem shockingly high, Perry said the estimates are based on different pathways the district could follow to meet its renovation goals, and no amount has yet been set.
Some of the site development cost could be reduced if fill dirt can be sourced locally, a possibility the architectural firm noted in August. Nothing has yet been decided for sure, Perry said.
The schools need to be designed in a way that also promotes more efficient queuing at lunchtime and at student pick-up and drop-off, Kindschuh said.
Some board members wondered how an influx of refugees, should it ever happen, could affect the district’s planning needs.
Board solicitor Brooke Say of Stock & Leader said in that event, the district would receive help from the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
“I know pockets of it,” Say said. “I can think of 3 or 4 districts that have told me in the last three years they’ve seen an increase in that. Like, a family group moves here, and then it becomes an attraction for other family groups who move into the country.”
If the refugee population increased, the district could also partner with other community organizations to meet everyone’s needs.
“I’ve only ever seen it really addressed in organic process,” Say added. “Certainly, there have been cases from time to time where it hasn’t gone well, and school districts have discriminated or tried to put that population all within a certain school, and there are lots of legal aspects that go to it because there’s lots of advocacy behind those groups. So where I’ve seen it done well, it’s organic. As you see that population increasing, you enhance supports.”
While meeting those changing community needs might be a challenge initially, Say noted that there are options.
“I think there’s a couple examples I can think of where they would say, ‘Well, this was not something we expected. We didn’t have an immediate translator we knew could attend an IEP meeting. We didn’t have a good population where we could provide the immediate support. We had to translate documents,’” Say said. “And then, 15 years later, it’s become just a part of the fabric of that community.”
Dr. Brad Sterner, assistant superintendent for the district, used the example of the PA Department of Education providing assistance when Ukrainian refugees moved into school districts.
Perry said that a potential for higher future enrollment, whether some of that is a result of refugees or not, is why it is important to include extra space when renovating or building schools.
“That is why, going all the way back with the board, that you have those numbers for enrollment always go big,” Perry said. “Go big plus 10%. You just never know what’s going to come. For example, we could say there will be no housing community coming because municipalities are telling us that.”
While the district is using enrollment projections when making decisions, and tracks how closely actual enrollment follows projected enrollment, Kindschuh said enrollment projections become less accurate after a five-year window due to the rising potential for changes further out.
“That’s why we have the discussions and work with the townships,” Kindschuh said. “One of those quarterly meetings was an output of the feedback that we got from the townships and said it would be good to meet frequently on a regular basis to learn what’s going on in the townships.”
Other business
Sterner said the district will soon hold the first comprehensive steering committee meeting of the 2024-25 school year.
“We’ll be looking at starting to develop those goals and action plans that will go along with it,” Sterner said. “Just a reminder that our comprehensive plan is due to the state in March. That will be for the next three years once it is adopted.”
The board accepted the resignation of Dr. Charlie Trovato, the district’s director of curriculum. The resignation is effective no later than Oct. 11, according to the agenda.
Perry said a candidate for Trovato’s position has accepted a job offer and the district is working with the candidate to establish a start date. Perry said the board will likely see the individual’s name cross their desk in October, when Perry recommends their hire.
Prior to the study session and board meeting, the board held a new teacher orientation as well as an executive board session to discuss personnel, confidential and legal matters.
In October, the board will hold its meetings at Conewago Township Elementary School.
The board will tour the school at 6 p.m., then view a presentation by Crabtree, Rohrbaugh and Associates. An executive session will be held at 7 p.m., with a study session held immediately afterwards. The regular board meeting will then be held.
November’s meetings will follow a similar pattern, but will be held at New Oxford Elementary School immediately following a board tour of the school and a presentation by the architectural firm.
Imari Scarbrough is a freelance journalist.
Imari Scarbrough is a freelance journalist. She was a staff newspaper reporter for five years before becoming a freelancer in 2017. She has written on crime, environmental issues, severe weather events, local and regional government and more.
You can visit her website at ImariJournal.com.