South Fayette school board moves cautiously on expansion plans
The South Fayette School Board is taking small steps forward with the district’s expansion and renovation plan, though the coronavirus pandemic has injected some uncertainty into the process.
The board approved a proposal Tuesday in an online meeting to add additional classroom space to the district’s middle school at a cost of almost $878,000. Adding classroom space to the middle school is part of a master plan unveiled last year that would replace the district’s current elementary school with a new, more up-to-date structure, make additions to the intermediate school and high school. The district targeted 2024 as a date when all the projects would be completed, with an estimated overall cost of $83 million.
Several board members expressed concerns about moving full steam ahead with the plans because of the coronavirus, however. They cited a host of uncertainties about revenue, whether distance learning would change how they teach students and whether the district would meet the enrollment projections that were laid out in the master plan.
“We might not need these physical spaces so much,” said board member Lena Hannah. “We don’t know. We need to have some honest discussions at the moment.”
William Ainsworth, another board member, said he had “an evolving opinion of what we need to do.”
However, Superintendent Kenneth Lockette said, “The growth is coming. At some point, we will be back in buildings. It will be a challenge to have a full online program as well as a brick-and-mortar program. I think it’s important to keep in mind that the growth is still coming.”
The board did agree to the issuance of $7 million in bonds to support construction projects, but it does not lock the board into proceeding with them. That will happen if the board agrees to a resolution to do so, which will likely be discussed at a board meeting in May.