After three months and more than a dozen meetings, the plans to reconfigure Burrell School District buildings are final.
“They actually listened to the public, the stakeholders and the staff,” said school board President Rick Kaczor. “There was nobody in the room that had anything negative to say about the experience.”
School board members were presented the plans this week. The board was not required to vote on the measures.
With the district’s Stewart Elementary School closing next school year, Burrell administration established task forces of interested staff and parents to review and recommend building plans and layout at Bon Air Elementary and Charles A. Huston Middle schools.
The board voted to close Stewart last fall because of a decline in enrollment, costly infrastructure upgrades and the opportunity to focus student resources in three district buildings instead of four.
With the closure, fourth graders will attend Bon Air and fifth graders will go to Huston next school year.
Bon Air’s plan
Bon Air’s building layout next year calls for kindergarten and a speech classroom in the basement; and first and second grades on the first floor.
The second floor would have third and fourth grade classrooms as well as music and art rooms, learning support and sensory rooms, and an autistic support room.
When it came to class scheduling, the task force landed on a plan that has adequate instructional minutes for each grade and added a few minutes of transition times for students to get from class to class. It also provides designated breakfast time for students and ensures support time for students does not overlap.
The plan for Huston
Huston’s building plan has fifth and sixth grade classes on the second floor, with separate fifth, sixth and seventh grade learning support rooms and a speech classroom. Four of the seventh grade classrooms also are on the second floor.
The first floor has the remaining seventh grade classrooms, close to a stairwell that connects them to the upstairs classes, and all eighth grade classes and learning support, sensory room, emotional support and intensive support rooms. Health teachers also will have their own classroom, as will the building’s prevention specialist.
Highlights of the Huston schedule include a 15-minute “free play” or recess period for fifth grade students; daily science and social studies classes for sixth, seventh and eighth graders, and “Buc Time” similar to an activities period during which clubs could meet.
In addition, band and choir are scheduled courses for students who take them.
Superintendent Shannon Wagner said the task force meetings used a “human-centered” design to review the proposals and voted on the final format for the building configurations and schedule.
Although the board didn’t, nor was it required to, vote on the finalized plans, Kaczor said he’s OK with what the task force decided.
“I trust our admin,” he said. “They do their due diligence. They care about the kids and the community.
“Everyone was pleased with how everything went.”
What’s next
District officials are planning parent nights to inform them of the finalized configurations. Wagner also plans a “celebration of Stewart” in the future, when people can get one last visit of the building and view displayed memorabilia.
In the coming months, the school board will joust with decisions and building projects at Bon Air, Huston and Burrell High School that, in total, could cost $24 million.
A cafeteria addition, air conditioning and boiler repair at Bon Air are estimated to cost $10 million. The cafeteria addition is necessary to accommodate fourth grade students, Wagner said.
If the district wanted to add fifth graders to Bon Air for the 2026-27 school year, an additional classroom wing would be needed. That would increase the cost of Bon Air projects to an estimated $14 million.
The board would request bids for both Bon Air projects, and they require review and approval from Lower Burrell city planners.
The board also is considering an estimated $10 million heating and cooling project at the high school.