About 150 people -- many of them parents and Avonworth Elementary School staffers -- attended the school board’s work session Monday evening to hear whether the board would approve the purchase of land adjacent to the current elementary school building to construct a new K-2 primary center. Photo by Connie Rankin for The Citizen

The next step in the construction of a primary center in the Avonworth School District was successfully made Monday night, as the school board approved the purchase of 8.45 acres of property.

A crowd of about 150 people -- most of them parents of young children and elementary school staffers -- watched a presentation by board member Patrick Stewart that outlined financial issues facing the district and argued in favor of construction of the $20 million facility that will ease overcrowding in the current elementary school by moving grades K-2 to another building.

All agreed that the overcrowding at the elementary school is an issue that must be addressed, with the school set to accommodate about 100 students over its 650-child capacity in the next school year. While many parents and the majority of the school board saw the new building as the answer, a few people concerned about steadily increasing property taxes looked for a less expensive solution.

Stewart said that the new building will add about $50 per year to the tax bills received by owners of properties assessed at $200,000.

That will be added, of course, to the tax increases already levied annually on property owners. If Avonworth receives permission from the state to increase the millage rate above the Act 1 index, a .86 mill hike will hit property owners this summer, which will cost $172 more each year for properties valued at $200,000, according to district figures.

The financial future for Avonworth, as well as other school districts around the state, looks none too bright, as director of fiscal management Brad Waters noted decreases in state education funding and significantly increasing pension contributions that push more of the financial burden onto local property owners.

Board member Jeff Schmid said that the projected tax impact of the primary center does not take into consideration the fact that it will cost $200,000 a year to staff the new school, and warned that "something's got to give." Channeling the district's money into a new school will result in cuts to staff and curriculum, he said, such as the recent furlough of 15 teacher aides.

"Finding a solution to the building issue and not cutting staff and curriculum is the way to go," Schmid said.

Stewart said that all of the options reviewed by the board and administration to address the need for more elementary school classrooms involved some cost. Among the other solutions considered, he said, were building another K-5 school, and various reconfigurations that would move some classes to an underutilized middle/high school building and requiring "extensive renovations."

In the end, Stewart said, officials agreed that they wanted the decision to be based on more than just the price tag, with the key factor.being the way Avonworth wants to educate its children.

The debate over whether school enrollment projections are accurate continued at Monday's meeting. U.S. Census data from 2010 shows the population continuing to drop in all of the North Boroughs except Ohio Township.

Stewart said that the census data provides a snapshot of the population in 2010, but fails to take into consideration migration into the district, and the "greening" effect of older citizens moving out and selling their homes to families with young children.

He said that the Pennsylavnia Department of Education (PDE) uses other criteria for making school enrollment projections, but it has proved fairly unreliable. In 2006, based on birth rates, the PDE said Avonworth Elementary would have 850 students by 2011, Stewart reported, which is more than 100 students over the current enrollment. In 2008, he said, the PDE predicted Avonworth would have 107 kindergarten students, when the school actually enrolled 130 students.

Superintendent Dr. Valerie McDonald said that administrators believed the district's own data is more accurate a predictor than either of these sources, as it is based on actual door-to-door fact-gathering by Thomas & Williamson, yet Avonworth has exceeded even these higher enrollment estimates.

The land approved for purchase during Monday's meeting lies on hilly terrain towards the rear of the current elementary school building. Despite having an appraised value of about $50,000, the district will pay $240,000 to Alvin and Catherine Jones for the property. The architect in charge of the project has estimated it will cost $1.8 million just to buy the land and prepare it for construction due to the terrain.

At Monday's meeting, the board voted 6-1 both to purchase the property and to approve a resolution proceeding with the primary center construction project. Scmid cast the opposing vote. Lynn Evans and Marybeth Sommers were absent.

A public hearing to get comments before final approval of the building project is scheduled for July 7.