Front entrance at Ringing Rocks Elementary School.

POTTSTOWN PA – While Ringing Rocks Elementary School is being rebuilt and expanded, which could take two or more years, most of its students will be housed in modular classrooms erected at Pottsgrove Middle School, 1351 N. Hanover St., Pottstown PA, the Pottsgrove School District Board of School Directors informally agreed Tuesday night (Jan. 26, 2010).

School board members did not officially vote on the modular plan. However, they generally said it made sense because it:

• provided greater safety than having construction work completed around students if they remained at Ringing;
• offered greater control because students would stay on district property, rather than at a third-party site like the soon-to-be-vacated St. Pius X High School building on North Keim Street; and
• was less expensive than other alternatives.

Although directors said they expected news media (reporters from both The Post and The Pottstown PA Mercury attended Tuesday’s board session) would quickly announce the modular relocation, they scheduled a meeting Feb. 23 at Ringing, 1401 Kauffman Rd., Pottstown PA, to explain it and introduce overall design drawings for the building’s almost $18 million renovations.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

The lone dissenter during the modular discussion was director Robert Lindgren, who contended leasing the 61,000-square-foot Pius building would be “less disruptive to students and staff, although there are more dollars involved.”

Negotiations with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia over the potential of renting Pius haven’t gone as hoped, Superintendent Dr. Bradley Landis reported. The Archdiocese’s latest offer totals about $750,000 plus utility costs, he said. That compares to estimates of $900,000 to keep students at Ringing while the expansion is phased in around them; or $400,000 to install eight modular classrooms on the Middle School grounds while using other facilities there as well.

Pius will be emptied when the Archdiocese’s new Pope John Paul II High School opens next fall in Upper Providence (PA) Township, just east of Limerick Township’s eastern border. Construction at Ringing is anticipated to begin in June (2010) and be completed – at the earliest – by August 2012.

Only students in grades 1-5 would be relocated to the Middle School property, Landis noted. The three classes of kindergarteners at Ringing would be divided between and attend Lower Pottsgrove or West Pottsgrove elementary schools. “Kids can adjust pretty quickly” to such changes, director Nancy Landes said. “Mine did. They went through the same thing when we built Lower and did fine,” director Jodi Adams added.

Relocation of Ringing’s pupils to the Middle School grounds presents its own set of challenges, however.

• The district must get Upper Pottsgrove (PA) Township approval to re-install modular classrooms there. Because it used a similar plan when  Lower Pottsgrove Elementary School was re-built, Business Manager David Nester doubted doing so again would pose a problem.
• It may affect new class schedules being put into place for grades 6-8. “That’s something we’re looking into right now,” Landis said. Also affected: how the schedules of shared special teachers would be altered, if at all.
• Waivers to use modular classrooms for special education students may be needed from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, under legislation in force now but which didn’t exist during Lower’s construction.

Driving the relocation decision is the desire by district architects to know how, and at what pace, construction can proceed at Ringing once it gets under way.

Related (to Ringing Rocks Elementary School renovations):

• Ringing Rocks Construction Cost Hearing Tonight
• Planners OK Ringing Rocks Land Sketch
• District Sets Dec. 3 Hearing On Rocks Budget
• Pottsgrove Asks State Help To Pay For Ringing Re-Build
• As School Opens, Progress On Ringing Rocks’ Project
• Surprise Enrollment Spurs Demographic Interest
• District Assembles Ringing Rocks Planning Team
• District OKs Architect Negotiations
• Consensus On Ringing Renovations: $16M
• Ringing Rocks Proposals Aired Tuesday
• Ringing Rocks Re-Examined April 14
• Pottsgrove To Trust-But-Verify On Ringing Plans
• Ringing Rocks Plans Take Another Step
• No Shortage Of Ideas At Pottsgrove Meeting
• Weigh In On Pottsgrove Renovations
• Framing The Rocks Discussion
• Response Mixed To Pottsgrove Improvements
• District Invites Public For Study Results
• A Different Rocks, But Only As A Concept

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