The Northern Lehigh School Board has put a proposed common campus model on hold after residents spoke out against the cost. The plan called for closing Peters Elementary and adding onto the other schools on the high school campus.

“At this point with the information that we’ve been getting and the feedback that we’ve been getting, I personally am not in favor of it for multiple reasons,” Director Chad Christman said. “One reason actually was brought up (a few) meetings ago, maybe not this year, next year, or probably even in 20 years from now but eventually we’re going to be considering a school may need to be replaced; if we get rid of Peters, we’re going to be landlocked right here, we got nowhere else to go.

“Number two, the $100 million price tag, our residents, our homeowners, they just can’t afford it,” Christman said.

He said he ran for office on a platform of fiscal responsibility. “I don’t know if I can pass that on to the homeowners knowing that. “I personally think we’re better off investing that money into our students, into our education. I know standardized testing is a Catch-22, I know we all don’t love it, but unfortunately some of that is how we are funded by the state ... let’s give them a better education, and not just a shiny new building.”

Christman’s remarks brought applause from the roughly 25 residents in attendance.

Directors’ views

Director Natalie Snyder said, “I also have thought about some of the situations where these Peters kids are a little farther away from others, but in a sense that’s a good thing, these kids are allowed to be young kids and not exposed to the teenagers and all the things that are going on in this world today, we have enough of that on social media, so therefore I think we need to keep these kids’ youth as long as we can.”

“I also think that putting them all in one campus could also be a detriment should there be a safety issue that should occur; they’re all in one building and not separated, at least right now they’re separated.”

Director Gary Fedorcha said the common campus had educational benefits.

“If we choose not to do the building construction plan this year, can that still remain on the books for a future look?” asked Fedorcha.

Superintendent Dr. Matthew J. Link said the district can still use feasibility study “as a road map to addressing capital improvements that are necessary at the buildings, even if you do not do a common campus.”

He recommended updating that feasibility study about every five to six years.

Director Rhonda Frantz cited the unknowns.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen when they shut down the Federal Department of Education and how those fund are going to be redistributed, we don’t know what’s going to happen with Social Security, one day they’re changing, one day they’re not,” Frantz said. “The way the stock market is, I just don’t think this is a commitment we should make right now.”

Director Gale Husack said, “I think the most important part is to make sure that our students have the appropriate level of staff members assigned. I’d like to focus on the teachers and the students first. And then maybe down the line in the future look at it later and see what it looks like down the road.”

Financing

Director Angela Williams said she also was not in favor of the common campus.

“You can move the money around, you can get bonds, you can get loans, in the end, it’s the taxpayers are going to pay for it today, tomorrow, 10 years, 20 years,” Williams said. “In order to do this common campus, the taxpayers are going to pay for it eventually, and I’m not in favor for it.”

About 10 residents spoke about the common campus proposal, nearly all who said they were opposed to it.

Resident Lauren Ganser noted that Northern Lehigh is a small district.

“We are a gem in the making and we have salt of the earth people here; we’re not Parkland, we’re not Liberty, we’re not those school districts,” Ganser said. “We can afford hamburgers and hot dogs, while they can afford steak and lobster, so let’s just keep it within our budget and pay for hamburger and hot dogs and get the best bang for our buck.”

However, resident Katja Bender recognized concerns of senior citizens, but wanted to speak for students.

“I find that there’s a clear disconnect between the members of our community who are older residents and the needs of our children,” Bender said. “It seems that those who no longer have school-aged children have separated themselves completely from the goings-on of our district until the potential for tax rate increases come up, then suddenly people attend meetings and begin to complain about what does not need to be paid for in our district, or what is just fine with our buildings; but let me tell you, they are far from fine.”

The study listed infrastructure improvements. Peters Elementary School would cost between $12 million to $14 million to renovate; Slatington Elementary School $2.2 million to $3.8 million, Northern Lehigh Middle School $12 million to $14 million full scope of work), or $7.4 to $9 million for renovations, Northern Lehigh High School $14.4 million to $16 million, and the field house, maintenance building and stadium $5 million to $6.2 million.

Under the plan, a new addition would have been built onto Northern Lehigh Middle School, allowing sixth grade to move from Slatington Elementary to the middle school.

Slatington Elementary School would have expanded to accommodate all students currently attending Peters Elementary School, resulting in a single K-5 elementary school.

Peters Elementary School would have been closed and sold. The middle school addition would have cost between $10.6 to $12.2 million, while the Slatington Elementary addition would cost between $26.8 to $30.2 million.

Grade shifts could result in a price tag of $26.8 to $30.2 million, based on a presentation from Emily Liuzza, project architect for Alloy5, and Mark Gallick, McClure Company, to the school board in October.