North Penn Officials Answer Questions About High School Renovations During Facebook Livestream

Dan Sokil | The Reporter•

North Penn Superintendent Todd Bauer ,left, CFO Steve Skrocki, top right, and Coordinator of Communications Media Bob Gillmer answer a submitted quest

District administrators are continuing their campaign to answer as many questions as possible about planned renovations to North Penn High School, and a Jan. 16 voter referendum that could approve an expansion of the school.

In a special 76-minute "Superintendent Live” Facebook stream last week, administrators answered extra questions left over after an in-person community input forum the night before.

"We just want to know that everybody has all their questions answered, they feel informed, and they can go to the polls, and vote in a way that they believe is best for their family,” said Superintendent Todd Bauer.

Throughout 2023, administrators have made the case for renovations to the current school, parts of which date back to the early 1970s, and detailed last week the differences between an estimated $403 million renovation and expansion that would move ninth graders to the school, which requires voters to approve $97 million in borrowing in a January referendum, or a smaller modernization of the current school estimated to cost $236 million.

In an online stream moderated by Coordinator of Communications Media Bob Gillmer, Bauer and CFO Steve Skrocki addressed questions left over or asked after the in-person forum, addressing the next steps in the process, the cost estimates, how much residents would likely pay, and more.

What About the Middle Schools?

Are any short-term fixes planned to the district’s three middle schools, before a renovation happens? Bauer said work on the middle schools is "definitely in the near future,” with Penndale Middle School in Lansdale "most likely the next building — but we can’t decide what we’re doing at Penndale until after the referendum.”

"The (middle school) buildings were renovated in the (19)90s and early 2000s. The high school hasn’t been touched since 1971,” he said. "I do have confidence that the next project would begin before the high school project is over,” Bauer said, and Skrocki added that planning for middle school work could start as soon as 2025, around when ground is broken at the high school.

In response to a question about the benefits of various grade structures, and moving ninth grade to the high school, Bauer said the scholarly literature is mixed, because "there are so many variables, everything from funding, to facilities, to the communities, it’s hard to narrow down that ‘This is due to the grade structure,'” so research is "inconclusive: it’s really about instructional practices, relationships, supports, facilities, instructional resources, all those things that determine outcomes, not necessarily grade structure.”

Are there downsides to doing so? Bauer said the two he saw were cost and size, "and with that, comes some level of concern, about academic offerings, opportunities for kids, athletics, and I can tell you this: in many cases, we struggle to put together ninth grade teams. We can’t put together a team of ‘blank’ sport in ‘blank’ middle school, and we have to combine,” which could be easier to do with all students in that grade at one school instead of three.

Skrocki added that, if the referendum fails, the district’s long-term capital infrastructure upgrade list currently totals roughly $190 million of projects that need to be done across the district, and to renovate all three middle schools would likely be "a very expensive proposition.”

How would an expanded high school handle large combined groups like lunch service, which currently runs from roughly 10 a.m. to after 1 p.m. in four periods at the high school now? "Everything has to be right-sized,” Bauer said, and the latest plans show "a commons area that is not just a cafeteria,” and common areas could be used for lunch during certain hours and group instruction or other lessons at other parts of the day.

Why does the district transportation center, which includes a bus garage, propane fueling station and dispatch center, have to move? Doing so frees up parking spaces currently used by drivers who park their personal cars there all day while driving buses, Bauer said, while reducing traffic flow since drivers would not be dispatched to and from other schools. What compliance and accessibility standards exist in the current high school? Bauer answered that the federal Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1990 so the K-Pod addition built in the late 1990s does comply, but older sections can’t be accessed by students with mobility needs, like wheelchairs or crutches.

"We have one functioning elevator on any given day, in a 550,000-square-foot building. Our chorus room, band room, they are not accessible, there are no ramps in those spaces, for our students. They did not make them that way in the ’70s, and they are still not that way. But they will be, regardless of a yes or no vote, after this renovation,” Bauer said.

Are the district figures given last week for average assessed and market value property values accurate? Skrocki said the assessed value is the value by which a property is taxed, set by the county’s board of assessment, while the implied market value is only theoretical until an actual sale happens.

"Ultimately, at the end of the day, what determines the value of a property is what a buyer is willing to pay a seller. That’s what determines the market value. But this gives people a general idea,” Skrocki said.

Could Costs Grow?

Could the project cost more than projected? Not likely, Skrocki said, since current $403 million estimated cost includes roughly a ten percent contingency buffer in case bids come back higher than expected, and the project could be rebid and/or scaled back if bids come back higher than that number. No variable rate bonds will be used, and the seven project bonds could be refinanced if rates fall.

"We are not going to exceed that $403.7 million figure. If we need to cut, we cut. We have a contingency to provide somewhat of a hedge, but if we have to cut some items from the project to get back down to the $403.7 million, we will do that. We’re hopeful that we’re presenting a worst-case scenario number, both in terms of the project estimate, as well as the tax impact to homeowners,” Skrocki said.

How far along is the current design? Bauer compared the design process so far to a purchase of a new house, when a resident might go to a builder and select a floor layout first based on their budget, then refine the furnishings and fixtures as costs are better known.

"We have not sat down with the furniture people, the cabinetry people, the flooring people, the smaller groups of teachers, like ‘What are the arts spaces going to look like? What is our typical math classroom going to look like? What are we going to do in the chemistry labs?’ We are not to that point. Those renderings are conceptual. They are not actual design at this point. However, we do have a budget,” Bauer said.

Could the average taxpayer have a higher bill than projected, due to a countywide reassessment in the near future? "I think the chances are slim to none,” Skrocki said, because doing so would be expensive to administer and could lead to politically unpopular tax increases across the county. Bauer then asked Skrocki how the district’s budget would be impacted, and Skrocki said of the $312 million annual budget, roughly $200 million comes from real estate taxes, and after a reassessment that $200 million figure would likely be the same.

"Maybe your home is underassessed. Maybe your home is over-assessed, and it is not in the type of repair it was in 1990-whatever, when it was assessed. Some people, if you’re looking at a list of real estate tax values, some people may move up and down that list, but the total cumulative number coming to the district does not change,” Bauer said.

Act 1, or Above?

The two then discussed the projected tax increases needed for the project, over and above the state-set Act 1 index, and how current projections show a total of four tax increases needed to pay down the debt, with the first starting in 2025, then those tax hikes rolling back starting in 2050.

"For this project, the tax bill starts to go down, and then in 2055 the project is paid off,” Skrocki said.

Would residents still see the annual tax increase typically passed in recent years, to fund the annual operating budget, in addition to the tax increases needed to pay down the debt? That will be determined during the annual budget process, Skrocki said, which starts in fall, runs through winter, and includes a series of special finance committee meetings each spring to detail each department’s operations, before the budget is adopted each June for the upcoming fiscal year.

"Typically, our costs go up. There’s labor costs that go up, there’s supply costs that go up. So I can’t guarantee that there’s going to be an additional increase, in addition to what we’ve shown as part of the project, but historically there is some level of tax increase on an annual basis, to cover our costs, determined as part of the annual budget process,” Skrocki said.

Gillmer then asked about other options, like a second high school elsewhere in the district, converting one of the three middle schools into a high school, and/or renovations to modernize all three middle schools if the referendum fails. Bauer said those questions were put into perspective by a resident following the townhall.

"One community member said to me, ‘So the way I’m reading this, is you’re probably going to be spending the $400 (million) anyway. If it’s not at the high school, you’re going to have to do it at the middle schools.’ And I said that’s correct, that’s fair to say,” Bauer said.

What would make another high school even more difficult would be the non-classroom needs, such as a swimming pool, sports stadium, parking and more, with the roughly $500 million estimated price tag for those, all on top of the $236 million estimate to renovate the current high school without expanding it.

"Turning Penndale (Middle School) into another high school, it’s the exact same situation. We don’t have the facilities to support a high school there, at Penndale, and all the things that come with high school programming: from lab space, to fields, to the different types of classrooms you would see in a high school, that’s just not something that’s going to be able to happen,” Bauer said.

Does new development help the district’s bottom line? Yes and no, Skrocki said, since each new home at the average assessed value adds on the order of $4,400 in new tax revenue for the district, only a fraction of the roughly $20,000 in per pupil expenditures.

"It has to be a home that doesn’t have a student in it, for there to be anything but a loss,” Bauer said. Skrocki added that the financial modeling already presented does incorporate an annual 0.4 percent increase in the district’s total tax base for natural economic growth, but property owners can also challenge their assessments to drop their number.

"We gain (revenue) on the 55-plus community, no kids, we get that additional tax revenue. But think of the Montgomery Mall: a tax assessment appeal was filed, and we lost about $2 million in revenue, just from Montgomery Mall. I can tell you, that 55-plus community is not generating $2 million a year in tax revenue,” Skrocki said.

Other Funding Sources in Play?

Could the price tag be reduced by funding from other sources, like partnerships with local businesses? Bauer said Merck, the largest employer in the district, already partners with North Penn in numerous ways, including support with programs in classrooms, and the district is open to other offers.

"If you own an organization, if you happen to be independently wealthy and you want to make a donation, we’re here. We absolutely are interested, but we certainly recognize that the community already contributes to the facilities, and the success of the school district,” he said. Could naming rights to certain facilities or parts of the new complex be available? "Those are possibilities, and we are here,” Bauer said.

Skrocki added that his office will work with the project engineering consultant to seek grants, largely at the state level, that could help reduce the total price tag. In a hearing in Lansdale in November, Bauer was among the local superintendents who testified in favor of changes to the state’s current education funding formula that allocates state subsidies to local districts, and the superintendent said changes to that funding stream could also help the project, while crediting the district’s maintenance staff for keeping the 1960s-era utilities in the current building up and running.

"We are patching together things for which you can no longer order parts, technology that no longer exists. So their efforts are heroic, there’s no doubt about it. But we have a lot of facilities, and we have a lot of capital projects that need to be done. So it’s really about doing so in a systemic way, and budgeting accordingly,” he said.

Will the district see savings from efficiencies in the upgraded infrastructure, and could renewable energy play a role? "It’s certainly a topic of conversation. Sustainability is a priority, but so is being fiscally responsible,” Bauer said.

How can neighbors who live near the school give their input? Bauer said he’s heard directly from residents in one development that abuts the school’s bus loop, and others near the former WNPV Radio property north of the current school; input from all will be welcome when designs are refined.

"It is now written in law that whatever currently exists, we have to improve. From stormwater management and runoff, to facilities in general, we need to improve them throughout this process. Our stormwater management must improve. We did have one neighbor say ‘That didn’t happen with K-Pod.’ Well, things have changed since the ’90s in what we need to do, as part of a project like this,” Bauer said. Even the size of the parking spaces will meet current codes: in response to a question about widening those spots, Bauer said while designs are far from finalized, his personal pickup truck barely fits into the current school’s parking spaces, "so I feel your pain.”

During the land development process, Skrocki added, district officials will need to make the case to Towamencin Township officials and consultants, and obtain approval from the township and county planning commissions, then before the township’s supervisors. Those meetings will all go into detail, and be held at the township building, with residents able to give input during that process — all starting once the referendum results are in.

"The site layout, any kind of traffic, the stormwater management, making sure we’re compliant with all zoning regulations. That’s going to be a lot of detail. And that process will run parallel with our design development, which will start pretty much on January 17th,” Skrocki said, likely running from then until spring 2025 when plans are finalized and bids sought.

Could the referendum have been held in October? No, Bauer said, because the most recent round of cost estimates was not ready until October, which didn’t allow enough time to notify residents and county officials: "We could not get this ready, in enough time for November.” Why not hold the vote during the spring primary? Because construction costs have risen recently by roughly $1 million for every month in delay, Skrocki said, so saving four months on the timeline more than covered the cost of the election.

"Financial modeling, combined with our construction (engineer’s) estimate, combined with our architects, all confirmed that the cost of waiting, due to inflation, on a project this size, is roughly $1 million a month. The last estimate we received from the county was about $318,000 to run a special election,” Bauer said.

"While a $300,000-plus expense is a lot of money, it is not the $4 million-plus it would cost us to wait. And one thing we do have with a January election date is, people are coming out for one matter, and one matter alone.”

North Penn’s school board next meets at 7 p.m. on Dec. 12 and the facilities and operations committee next meets at 6 p.m. on Dec. 18; for more information visit www.NPenn.org and for more on the proposed renovations visit www.ReimagineNPHS.org.

This article appears courtesy of a content share agreement between North Penn Now and The Reporter. To read more stories like this, visit www.thereporteronline.com.