Plum School District gets $1.9M grant, eyes borrowing for work at 2 schools

As grant money comes in to help offset some of the cost, the Plum School Board will vote this month to authorize borrowing nearly $10 million toward an anticipated $30 million building project.

If approved by the board at its Sept. 24 meeting, the district’s financial advisors would have the ability to borrow $9,995,000 when they feel the time is right, on or after Oct. 8. The district would receive the money on or after Nov. 12.

The money will be used for renovations of O’Block Elementary and the district’s middle school, as well as an addition at O’Block.

The district’s plan for three $10 million borrowings instead of one for $30 million gives it flexibility as information is discovered and decisions are made, Superintendent Rick Walsh said.

“Our goal is to start to borrow the money so that we can start to do the work, to hire the engineers, the architects, to start moving these projects forward,” he said.

HDG Architects expects to make a final presentation, including the probable costs of the work at the board’s Nov. 12 meeting.

As presented by HDG, the work would add 15,000 square feet to O’Block, where the district says more room is needed to handle current and future capacity issues. It also aims to improve parent pickup and dropoff, site circulation, and parking and play areas.

The district has worked to scale back work at O’Block so more work can be funded at the middle school.

At the middle school, high priorities include replacing exterior doors and windows, replacing or repairing parts of the roof, upgrading kitchen equipment, replacing ceilings, upgrading interior doors, relocating the corner of the track at the football field, HVAC improvements, lighting and a number of mechanical and plumbing replacements.

Potential items at the middle school include a redesign of the main entrance and upgrades to the gymnasium.

District officials received confirmation Tuesday that the state awarded the district about $1.9 million for air quality improvement projects at the middle school. It was part of $75 million in grants awarded for environmental repairs at schools across the state.

The district had asked for about $2.4 million but was told that all projects were awarded at 78% of their request, said Preston Hartman, director of the district’s virtual learning program.

The grant money will be used for the middle school’s exterior doors and windows, replacing the HVAC chiller and pump systems, and installing a dedicated outdoor air system to improve indoor air quality, he said.

Walsh said the district will continue to look for other ways, such as grants, to pay for the work. He said the district also will consider what work can be done by its own employees.

The district expects more money from the state as it complies with a court order addressing the underfunding of schools.

“Schools in Pennsylvania are still underfunded by $6 billion to $8 billion by one estimate, and the court has ordered that to be rectified,” Walsh said. “The governor moved almost $1 billion into public education this year. There’s no reason to believe that that will not continue in years to come, which gives the board some flexibility in making some decisions with additional state revenue coming in.”

In addition to voting on the borrowing at its Sept. 24 meeting, the school board is expected to vote on approving testing of the roofs at O’Block and the middle school. That is expected to cost $23,000, Walsh said.

Walsh suggested moving that work forward as soon as possible before winter. It will tell the district which parts of the roofs might need to be replaced.

“That’s money well spent in order for this board to make decisions, and it could potentially free up significant money to address other projects,” he said.