New Kensington Arnold School District has paused a proposed plan to realign the district’s school buildings.
The realignment, recommended by Superintendent Christopher Sefcheck in January, would reduce the number of building transitions in early elementary school.
Early ideas for the plan proposed Martin Elementary housing kindergarten and first grade, while second and third graders would be in another building, and fourth through sixth grades in another, Sefcheck said.
“It’s really hard to go to kindergarten in a new building and learn how to do school, and then as soon as you learn then you’re going to another building,” Sefcheck said. “The idea is to eliminate the number of transitions and have more consistency between grades.”
Sefcheck said the plan was tabled because the projected bond rates and debt repayment terms options right now would not be fiscally responsible for the district.
The realignment was estimated to cost between $15 million and $20 million, generated mostly through borrowing via bonds, Sefcheck said.
He said state budget uncertainty also factored into the decision.
“They haven’t been passing (the budgets) on time,” Sefcheck said. “It’s never a guarantee of how much money we’re going to get, and some of the adequacy funds being placed in Ready to Learn block grant means that we’re not guaranteed a substantial or even consistent revenue stream moving forward.
Sefcheck said, if the district were to take on debt now for the realignment, it would come at the expense of other necessary district projects, including fixing a damaged roof in one of the administrative buildings, boiler replacement and parking lot repairs.
In the future, the district would still consider realignment because of the benefits to student experience, Sefcheck said.
“It’s possible that we revisit it, but it’s also possible that we look at more creative ways of doing things,” he said.
In January, three committees were organized — an accessibility team, led by Roy A. Hunt Elementary Principal Jeff Thimons; an accountability team, led by Martin Elementary Principal Angela Manchini; and an acceleration team, led by H.D. Berkey Elementary Principal Brian Heidenreich — to guide the realignment discussion process.
Sefcheck said the committees are currently on pause, but are something the district would like to continue as it focuses on next steps.
“We’re very disappointed,” he said. “There’s a number of people who are very disappointed that we couldn’t make it work right away. But when you can’t, you go to the drawing board and you find maybe a better way.”