Pottsgrove School District Business Administrator David Nester, right, talks with Harry Pettoni of Gilbert Architects, the district's feasibility study authors, before Tuesday night's meeting.
LOWER POTTSGROVE PA – Snowy weather Tuesday night (Feb. 3, 2009) limited turnout for what the Pottsgrove School District Board of School Directors had hoped would be a big crowd to discuss renovation and expansion options for district buildings. While they didn’t get the number of people they were angling for, board members nonetheless heard plenty of interesting ideas.
The district last year commissioned a feasibility study that documented the deteriorating state of Ringing Rocks Elementary School, the possible need for expansion of Pottsgrove High School and district offices, and the desirability of adding athletic fields. Members of the public were invited Tuesday, for the second time in four months, to comment on and ask questions about the study and its recommendations.
“There’s not a consensus (among directors) to do anything about any of these plans right now,” board President Michael Neiffer reminded an audience of about 30 people in attendance at the high school cafeteria. “Before we start setting any course, we wanted to do something we haven’t done well in the past, and that’s to hear what people have to say.”
Among those expressing opinions:
- Pamela and Bruce Landers of North Sanatoga Road urged the board to price, and pay immediate attention to, problems identified in district buildings that currently do not meet state or local building code requirements. Beyond that, though, Mrs. Landers noted that Ringing Rocks and the high school both could easily accommodate more students by altering student classroom populations, and still be below Pennsylvania’s guidelines for maximum class sizes. She asked the board to consider methods that, if proposed renovations proceed, would allow the district to seek higher state reimbursement for construction costs.
- Former School Board President Darryl Hendershot suggested the district consider using Ringing Rocks as an early childhood development center that provided classrooms for district-wide full-day kindergarten classes, and housing for first and second grades. The change, he believed, would meet increasing demand for full-day kindergarten, and also relieve classroom crowding in Lower and West Pottsgrove elementary schools.
- District resident Dennis Elliott and former school board member Gordon Whitlock separately expressed concern about the burden anticipated tax increases, needed to pay for building construction or renovations, would place on taxpayers.
- District elementary school music teacher Kathy Williams invited those at the meeting, and all district residents, to request a tour of Ringing Rocks and see for themselves that building’s crowded conditions. “I know this is a time to worry about pennies,” she said, acknowledging the local economy’s dismal condition, “but we’ve got kids eager to learn and not a lot of space available for them to learn in. We’re making use of every inch of that building.”
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