Peters board votes to include pool in new high school
The Peters Township School Board decided during its May 29 meeting to include a swimming pool in the new high school.
Some students, parents and residents have been outspoken in their wish that a pool be included in the new high school, which is slated to open for the 2020-21 school year, arguing a pool is necessary to the health and vitality of students and the community as a whole.
In order to finance the project, the board had been planning on adding a total of 1.50 mills to the bills of township property owners over the next six years. Now it will be 1.57 mills, which will cost the owner of a home priced at $300,000 an additional $21 per year, according to Brad Rau, the district’s business manager. Peters will borrow $5 million at the end of the project to cover the pool’s cost.
The board voted 6-3 to include the pool, with Jamison Hardy, William Merrell and Rebecca Bowman voting against the motion, while Minna Allison, Lisa Anderson, Rolf Briegel, Ronald Dunleavy, Thomas McMurray and Daniel Taylor supported it. The vote was greeted with sustained applause by many in attendance at the board meeting, which took place in the district’s administrative offices on East McMurray Road.
Despite voting against the pool, Hardy said beforehand including the pool at the new high school “doesn’t put us at any fiscal risk … I do not think it puts us in jeopardy.” He conceded, however, making the pool part of the high school, which will be located at the site of the former Rolling Hills Country Club, could limit spending on “luxuries” in the district.
“We have the money to do what is being proposed,” Hardy said. The board has previously said it does not want to spend more than $90 million on the new high school.
Before the vote, Venetia resident Mark Opitz told the board he did not envy its position.
“Half of the township doesn’t think we need a new high school,” he said. “The other half would support it if it had the right amenities. I hope you’re not underestimating the support for a pool.”
Another resident, Marc Simon, disagreed. He said the district “cannot afford $5 million for a new pool complex.”
“Schools are in the business of educating kids, not teaching kids how to swim,” he said. “It’s a huge and unnecessary expense, and will be utilized by a very small fraction of the student body.”
The district’s current high school, built in 1968 and renovated in 1981, has a pool. Rau said a new pool will likely cost less to maintain, thanks to it requiring fewer chemicals. It costs about $10,000 a month to maintain the pool at the high school, he added.