Bethel Park’s Ben Franklin Elementary gearing up for renovations
The architectural firm that worked on the recently completed renovation at George Washington Elementary School will now take on a similar job at another school in Bethel Park.
At its meeting Sept. 22, Bethel Park School Board hired Hayes Design Group of Bridgeville to act as the district architect for the renovation of Benjamin Franklin Elementary School, as well as a smaller project at Neil Armstrong Middle School. The firm will be paid an hourly rate, but the cost will not exceed $280,000.
Workers were busy over the summer with the Washington School renovation and most of the work at Franklin will also take place after the school year ends, to limit any disruption to the school day. The scope of the project will include a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system as well as new lights and other improvements. At Neil Armstrong, the outside lighting system will be replaced and work will be completed on the school’s water line.
Cost to renovate Washington School was about $3.3 million. School officials will have a clearer picture of how much it will cost to perform similar work at Franklin School once it solicits construction bids in a few months.
In another matter, some school board members lambasted state lawmakers for their inability to pass a state budget. Like all school districts in Pennsylvania, a portion of Bethel Park’s funding comes from state subsidies, but since the state has failed to pass a budget for the past three months, school districts have not received any money from the state.
“They are shirking their duties big time. There are so many that are being harmed by the fact that we don’t have a budget,” said board President Donna Cook.
She urged Bethel Park residents to email or call elected officials in Harrisburg and ask them to resolve the budget impasse.
The board contracted with Side Effects Inc. to provide windscreens to be installed on the fences of athletic fields at no cost to the district. The signs will have the school logo as well as advertisements and Side Effects will collect any profit from the advertisements.
The board made several personnel moves, including accepting a resignation from Emily Dingfelder, part-time music teacher; hiring Zachary Cable, part-time elementary music teacher and Daniel Hilty, long-term substitute music teacher at Neil Armstrong Middle School.