Wyoming Area Catholic Students Learn School Bus Safety

Pa. Students Learn 'Intelligent Design'

By JANINE UNGVARSKY Times Leader Correspondent
 Wednesday, January 19, 2005 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 3A 





What does $20 million look like? In Wyoming Area, it looks like gray brick,
yellow metal and sprinkler systems. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 At a presentation Tuesday night, taxpayers learned it will cost an
estimated $9.4 million to install sprinklers in the district's secondary
center, which includes the high school, and build an addition to the middle
school. Work at 10th Street Elementary will cost about $6.9 million, with an
additional $3.4 million estimated for soft costs such as fees, permits and
paperwork. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Jonathan Loiselle of Highland Associates, the project architect, showed
renderings of the addition that will stand on the grassy area to the left of
the secondary center. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``We want it to be related but with a separate identity,'' Loiselle said as
he pointed out the gray glazed brick and yellow metal facade, similar to the
high school but with a distinct design. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The addition includes a gym, cafeteria, band room and administrative
offices on the first floor, and six classrooms, science and computer labs and
an art room on the second. Students will use the library and the pool in the
secondary center, with access controlled by a series of doors between the two
facilities, Loiselle said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The sprinklers will be installed this summer. Construction on the addition
will begin in August and be completed by June 2006, but seventh- and
eighth-graders will not move in until the first day of the 2007 school year. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In between, the new addition will be the temporary home of the nearly 400
students that usually attend 10th Street. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 School board President Bob Orlando cited quicker construction and student
safety as the reasons behind this decision. ``The more we looked at that, the
more it began to seem like a no-brainer,'' despite the disruption. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The 10th Street project includes the addition of 16 classrooms to house
kindergarten through fifth grades, plus a districtwide sixth grade.
Renovations include sprinkler installation and upgrades to hallways, offices
and restrooms. Work there will begin in April 2006 and finish in June 2007,
according to the project plans. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The board voted 6-3 to approve the plan, which now heads to the state
Department of Education for final approval. Jake Sobeski, Eugene Thomas and
Toni Valenti voted no. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Valenti cited the expense of the addition to the high school as her reason
for opposing the plan. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 After the meeting, Thomas expressed the same concern. He said he favors the
project at 10th Street as well as the installation of sprinklers at Montgomery
Elementary, which are not in the current project, but doesn't think taxpayers
can afford the other expenses. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``You see people at the pharmacy turning back their prescriptions. If they
can't afford that, they certainly can't afford this.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Wyoming Area Projects Get Board's Ok Taxpayers Get A Peek At District's Construction And Renovation Plans.