School closures to fund project

April 12, 2010

By PATRICK E. LITOWITZ
plitowitz@ncnewsonline.com

Closing three primary centers will provide the funds needed to pay for the New Castle Area School District’s consolidation project.

Business manager Joseph Ambrosini highlighted the potential $800,000 in annual savings. His assessment came last week during a school board subcommittee meeting assigned to review a districtwide facilities study.

“If we don’t do anything, we’re still going to pay out $800,000 yearly on old buildings,” Ambrosini said.

“It’s like running a furnace with a hole in the roof and the windows broken,” board member Dr. Marilyn Berkely said.

Superintendent George Gabriel along with Ambrosini and fellow administrators Stan Magusiak and Terance P. Meehan offered their recommendations: Renovate Harry W. Lockley Kindergarten Center into a kindergarten-through-second-grade learning center at a price of approximately $21.3 million.

Dave Esposito of Eckles Architecture and Engineering noted the district might have to acquire 18 to 19 acres as part of the Lockley renovation. The state would reimburse the district 80 percent of the acquisition costs.

The district’s third-graders would move to George Washington Intermediate Elementary and join the fourth- through sixth-graders. Improvements to the site would total $8 million, which are eligible for 100 percent reimbursement from the state. Updates would include a new heating system, security improvements and additional enhancements.

“That building is in very good shape,” Esposito said. “(The improvements) should give that building a new lease on life for 20 years.”

Ambrosini said the savings from closing Thaddeus Stevens, John F. Kennedy and West Side primary centers had to be economically significant before committing to the project.

The annual cost to operate these centers with state reimbursement included is $700,000 to $900,000. Savings would come in the elimination or reduction of utilities, transportation, capital improvements and staffing (cafeteria, maintenance, custodians, personal care assistants).
During the next 10 years, 22 teachers are expected to leave the district through retirement or furloughs. That will create about $2.2 million in savings. Those numbers do not include reductions in administrative staff.

Four of the five board members — Karen Humphrey, Anna Pascarella, Maryann Tofel and Berkely — were prepared to accept the administration’s recommendation and pass it to the full board for a vote. Bradley G. Olson Jr. asked for more time to review the proposal.

Olson questioned Ambrosini about the implications of a declining student enrollment on the education subsidy received through the state.

The business manager said he does not foresee a reduction in the money New Castle receives.
“What is the bottom dollar to the citizen of New Castle?” Olson asked. “Are we going to now come out of pocket even more to pay for these upgrades in schools or is it going to maintain the same amount of taxes that I’m paying right now?”

Gabriel responded: “I don’t see any new taxes (taking place) as a result of this consolidation … based on these projections. I’m not saying there’s never going to be a millage increase in this district.”

The next meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. April 26.

As the meeting ended, one board member used the term “construction” to describe to project. Berkely corrected the statement.

“I think if we were to build new, we should all get run out of town,” she said.

“I agree with you doctor, but you didn’t hear me say that,” Gabriel said. “It’s never been an option.”

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April 13, 2010

Clarification: The annual cost of the New Castle Area School District’s proposed consolidation project is 700,000 to $900,000 during a 20-year period. That amount includes state reimbursement. The information was unclear in Monday’s edition.