Donegal Schools Weigh $100M Overhaul
Posted on: Saturday, 17 May 2008, 03:00 CDT
By Stauffer, Cindy
Growing numbers of students stuffed into modular classrooms and eating lunch as early as 10:30 a.m. so they can get through a maxed- out cafeteria. Aging schools with worn-out heating systems, water line breaks and outdated electrical systems not designed for today's technology.
Squeezed-in athletic fields where baseballs fly onto the track and the soccer team has to be careful not to kick balls onto a nearby road.
Donegal School District officials say the time has come - in fact it has passed - to address these concerns.
Tonight, the Donegal School Board will vote on whether to proceed with a wide-ranging expansion and renovation plan that would affect just about every school in the district, situated in and around Mount Joy and Marietta boroughs.
The plan likely will cost about $100 million. Taxpayers would pay for it with a $500 to $600 jump in annual taxes, which would be phased in over several years.
District residents will get the final say on whether or not the school upgrade happens, in a referendum likely to be held during the next school year.
If residents approve the upgrade, it would take three to five years to complete.
The superintendent and board president are hoping residents give the plan the go-ahead.
I think it is imperative that the children of Donegal at least get comparable facilities to our neighbors in order to be competitive in the marketplace, said superintendent Shelly Riedel.
Board president Todd Smeigh said, The people we are educating now are the ones that will run our schools and government and take care of us and this country, no matter where it goes.
My view is: The better education we can provide publicly, the better off collectively all of us are.
The first step will be tonight's board meeting at 7 at the Donegal Springs Elementary School on Koser Road, Mount Joy.
If the board approves the plan, it then will be put to a special referendum of residents, likely some time after the November election.
Smeigh said he expects community reaction to the plan to be mixed and divisive.
I already have learned there are folks out there who are vehemently against it, he said. But I also have learned that there are folks who have said, If you're going to do it, do it once. Quit coming back.'
Smeigh said the plan is comprehensive and will address the immediate and future needs of the district, which has almost 2,900 students.
One of the challenges the district is facing is surging enrollment.
A Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 study showed the district has expanded by 11.3 percent over the past 10 years and studies show it is the fastest-growing school district in the the county.
The district has been forced to place 14 modular classrooms at its high school and four behind its middle school. It also is seeking a home for a temporary kindergarten center to ease a space crunch at its elementary schools.
The buildings in the district are old and not functional, Riedel and Smeigh said.
Maytown Elementary, built in two phases in the 1890s and 1920s, is the oldest operational elementary school in the state, not a distinction I want, Smeigh said.
The high school is 50 years old. Its cafeteria and auditorium are too small. Its electrical and other systems do not support the school's needs.
Athletic fields are worn out and crowded together, Riedel said, with football and baseball sharing the same high school stadium.
The district opted not to raise taxes or do building projects for a number of years, Smeigh said, and now is scrambling to address growing needs.
We are fools if we think this can just go on and on and we don't have to pay any money, he said.
A community meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 11, at Donegal Springs to further explore the plans.
Under the plan, the district would:
Build a new Maytown Elementary School behind the current building's site.
Renovate, expand and realign the building that houses Riverview Elementary and Donegal Middle schools.
The elementary school would house kindergarten through third grades and the current middle school would house fourth through sixth grades.
Renovate the high school to house seventh and eighth grades.
Build a new high school, for grades nine through 12, on a property next to the current high school.
Renovate and upgrade athletic fields and facilities.
(Copyright 2008 Lancaster Newspapers. All rights reserved.)
(c) 2008 Lancaster New Era. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
Source: Lancaster New Era
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