web1_RyannePark_01.jpg

Greater Hazleton parks project to honor late 4-year-old

web1_TTL-05092017-Sem-vs-LL-lacrosse-9.jpg

Wyoming Seminary girls lacrosse edges Lake-Lehman in WVC showdown

<p>DALLAS TWP. &#8212; An architecture firm presented the Dallas School Board with a preliminary proposal Monday to replace the aging Dallas Elementary School.</p><p>The building, which was originally constructed to house flood victims in 1972, is at the end of its useful life, said Randy Galiotto, an architect with Alloy 5 of the Lehigh Valley.</p><p>Galiotto presented a preliminary conceptual design for a new elementary located alongside the existing Wycallis Elementary School.</p><p>&#8220;We worked with a couple of ideas to take an approach to design the building to solve some traffic issues,&#8221; he said. &#8220;What that really means is separating and sharing.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;We are looking to share the bus drop-off and separate the parent drop-off.&#8221;</p><p>Galiotto proposed a new building footprint that would place the school off Conyngham Avenue, next to Wycallis.</p><p>Bus traffic would be redirected from Hildebrandt Road to Conyngham Avenue to a shared school bus pad for the two elementaries.</p><p>Parents and caregivers dropping off or picking up students would use a separate route that would run behind the proposed school, Galiotto said.</p><p>A teachers&#8217; parking lot would be constructed near the current site of the elementary school. Teachers would have a path to walk to the school building.</p><p>The design marks a first step by the district to consider plans to replace the 45-year-old prefabricated structure.</p><p>Several audience members posed questions regarding what grades would be located in the proposed school and how would the district afford it.</p><p>&#8220;This is very early in the process,&#8221; Superintendent Thomas Duffy said.</p><p>The preliminary proposal would include a grade reconfigure that would place kindergarten through second-grade at Wycallis.</p><p>The new Dallas Elementary would house third, fourth and fifth grades, Duffy said.</p><p>Wycallis would have room if the district expands to include an all-day kindergarten and pre-kindergarten programs, he added.</p><p>The total price tag for the new learning facility was not provided Monday.</p><p>However, David Payne, a financial adviser at PNC Bank, presented the board with documentation stating the &#8220;high parameter&#8221; for the school construction would be between $16 million and $20 million.</p><p>The district has an A1 credit rating, which is one step down from an AA rating, and would be able to secure bonds to fund the project over 24 years.</p><p>Taxpayers could expect to see a tax increase of about 2.2 percent, which is equivalent to $45 per parcel, Payne said.</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_DuffyCMYK-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Dallas School District Superintendent Thomas Duffy speaks at a previous school board meeting. Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_DuffyCMYK-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Dallas School District Superintendent Thomas Duffy speaks at a previous school board meeting. Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Eileen Godin</p><p>egodin@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Eileen Godin at 570-991-6387 or on Twitter @TLNews.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Dallas School Board presented with conceptual design for new Dallas Elementary