Lower Burrell school property won't revert to original owners if school closes

Historians and officials say if Stewart Elementary School in Lower Burrell closes and goes up for sale, the land would not revert back to the Stewart family, despite rumors to the contrary.

Lower Burrell historian Ray Rieser said, despite popular belief, the Burrell School District purchased the land from the Stewart family in 1930, citing documents from the Westmoreland County Recorder of Deeds.

Now, the school district is considering closing and selling the building, citing declining enrollment and an aging building. School directors scheduled a hearing for 6 p.m. June 25 at Stewart to take public comment on the closure.

Rumors on the property’s history swelled on social media after news of the possible closure and sale broke last week.

“There is no reverter clause in the deed,” Superintendent Shannon Wagner said.

The elementary school property was vacant farmland when the school purchased it, Rieser said. The school district bought two properties from the Stewarts at the time, for a total price of $7,125. The land is 6.4 acres.

“I’ve never seen anything, anywhere, that the land was donated, and I have the deed that it wasn’t,” Rieser said.

The Stewart family did retain mineral rights to the property, Rieser said.

The finances

Wagner believes it is more fiscally responsible for the district to invest in needed improvements at its other buildings — Bon Air Elementary, Huston Middle School and Burrell High School — than the 94-year-old Stewart building.

It would cost $17 million to renovate the building, Wagner said.

The district is considering two reconfiguration options if Stewart closes.

The first option, which has an estimated cost of $20 million, would move fourth grade classes to Bon Air, build an add-on to a cafeteria there and have the middle school hold fifth through eighth grades. Construction would include paving and HVAC upgrades at Bon Air, the middle school and high school.

The second option, with projected costs of $26 million, would have kindergarten through fifth grade at Bon Air, add on to the cafeteria and build seven additional classrooms there. Construction also would include paving and air conditioning at Bon Air, the high school and the middle school.

The renovations at the other district buildings are necessary, Wagner said.

The district would float two $10 million bonds to pay for either option. No jobs would be lost under either proposal.

“It’s about making sure we are being fiscally responsible and balancing that with the environment children need to be educated,” Wagner said.

The district would see about $200,000 each year in savings if it were to close Stewart. A mill’s worth of taxes in Burrell is $154,000.

“That’s a little bit more than a mill of taxes that will help us and help our community,” Wagner said.

The school district would then sell the building if the school closed.

“Our intention is to sell the property with the hope that it would produce tax revenue for the district,” she said. “We’re hoping that it would be something that produces taxes to support the city and school district.”

Stewart history

Stewart opened to elementary and junior high students in 1931, according to a written history of Lower Burrell provided by Wagner.

Stewart replaced four one-room schools: Bon Air, which had been located at the current Schaedler Yesco site before it was reconstituted at its current site on Leechburg Road; Glade View, which was at the current McDonald’s site before moving to its subsequent site at Iowa and Grove drives; Yetters, on Watters Drive; and Morrows, on Seventh Street Road.

“At that time, the consolidation of these schools was encouraged by the state’s provision of subsidies for student transportation services and an annual bonus for schools that complied,” according to the written history.

The original section of the Stewart building housed students from first to 10th grades and had 11 classrooms, a gymnasium and library, and a home economics room.

The school expanded beginning in 1937 under the federal Works Progress Administration, which included five more classrooms, a nurse’s office, a cafeteria and a woodshop.

Another addition in 1952 added classrooms along with a room for teachers, an auditorium and an office.

The building was renovated in 1975 and again during the 1996-97 school year. At that time, the building had served students from kindergarten to fifth grade who lived in Lower Burrell between Alder Street and Craigdell Road.

In 2011, the district reconfigured its elementary buildings, having Bon Air Elementary serve students in kindergarten through third grade and Stewart holding fourth and fifth grades.