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Growing Crestwood Mulls New School: The District Will Study Various Options, Which Include Adding to Existing Buildings.

Posted on: Saturday, 14 January 2006, 15:00 CST

By Bonnie Adams, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Times Leader

Jan. 14--WRIGHT TWP. -- The Crestwood School District is considering building a new school because of district growth that has outpaced state Department of Education enrollment projections.

School Board President Bill Jones said the district might submit three building options to the state: a new school for kindergarten through third grade, a new building for sixth through eighth grades, or a new senior high school.

Superintendent Richard Duffy said the middle school and high school are "bursting at the seams." He stressed Friday that a new school building is not definite as the district prepares to conduct a feasibility study.

Crestwood has Rice and Fairview elementary schools located in those respective townships, plus the middle/high school in one building in Wright Township. Duffy said additions could be made to existing schools, or a new primary center or high school could be built.

He said plans for converting district administrative office space into classrooms is on hold for now. Those offices are in the middle school/high school building.

Duffy said the district is considering converting a multipurpose room in each elementary school into classrooms. He said class sizes might be increased if that isn't done. "Nobody's happy about that."

He said the trend is for continued district growth with three new housing developments and another one expected in the White Haven area. The state Department of Education had predicted there would be about 300 fewer students than there are in the district.

Duffy, at last month's board meeting, said enrollment as of early December totaled 3,144 students, an increase of 87 students compared with December 2004.

The first-round of interviews of architects to conduct a feasibility study has been held and a second-round is planned, Duffy said. Jones said it will probably be two years before the district breaks ground on any new school building.

Jones said the cost of any building expansion is an unknown at this early stage in terms of future district budgets, as is the cost of a new teachers contract. "We're hoping this thing gets done, so we can have a good idea" for a preliminary budget," Jones said of a contract settlement.

Court-ordered contract negotiations have been ongoing between the Crestwood Education Association and the district to reach a settlement in a new contract to replace the one that expired in August 2002. Jones cannot discuss negotiations due to a court-imposed gag order agreed to by both sides.

Crestwood and all other districts in Luzerne County opted into Act 72 legislation that will provide property tax relief through slot machine proceeds. Those districts must adopt a preliminary 2006-07 budget by next month as compared to the June 30 deadline of previous years.

Opting into Act 72 also means districts cannot raise taxes beyond a certain amount each year without voter approval. The limit is calculated using an "index" that is basically a measure of inflation, and the Pennsylvania School Boards Association says, if history is any indication, it will vary from about 2.8 percent to 3.6 percent each year.

Jones said previous teacher union contract proposals were "well above" the threshold that would require a voter referendum to increase Crestwood taxes under Act 72. He said that if the voters were to reject a proposed tax increase, the district would have to look at cutting programs.

Bonnie Adams, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7241.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Times Leader

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Source: The Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.)

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