Parents and teachers are supporting a plan to dramatically renovate and expand Chartiers Valley’s high school and middle school buildings, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
On Tuesday, the district held a public hearing regarding the project, which could cost up to $88.5 million. From the P-G:
Norman Hargraves, a parent from Collier, said he liked the arguments made in favor of the project.
“It’s something that in the long run is going to save us dollars,” he said. “To me, this is a good investment.”
And…
Also endorsing the project was Mark McAleer, a teacher at the high school.
“We’re at a point when we can no longer repair to maintain the status quo,” he said. “It’s time to build this new state-of-the-art building.”
The current high school-middle school complex, which dates back to the early 1970s, suffers from HVAC problems, water leaks, and electric failures, among other problems.
Chartiers Valley’s finance director said that the district expects to save significant amounts of money after the project is complete—maintenance costs should decrease by $300,000 annually, while utility costs should drop by $200,000 each year.
The new building also offers a learning environment so modern that we literally couldn’t tell it apart from the school in Star Trek.
Residents have until Thursday, Jan. 21 at 4 p.m. to submit comments about the project to school board secretary Nick Morelli.