Greensburg Salem hires energy savings company to draft middle, high school improvement plans

As Greensburg Salem prepares to make its final debt service payment in January, the district is working with an energy savings company to create long-term improvement plans for its middle and high school buildings.

The school board voted unanimously to hire TEN, The Efficiency Network, to complete conceptual design plans for the middle and high school. The plans will cost the district $197,500.

The board tabled a similar motion at its Sept. 10 meeting. Several board members requested additional time to review and revise the contracted scope of work with the energy savings company the district first hired last year to tackle an overhaul of its aging facilities.

The high school was remodeled in 1992 — the same year Hutchinson Elementary was built. The middle school was built in the early 1900s and was last remodeled in 1979. Nicely and Metzgar elementaries were built in 1968 and haven’t been remodeled since.

With the energy company’s help, the district made upgrades to its fitness center and Hutchinson Elementary earlier this year.

The latest contract, however, is aimed at helping the district make large-scale upgrades to the high school and middle school buildings, said Board President Jeff Metrosky.

District weighs building, renovating middle school

The company will survey both buildings for layout, accessibility, safety and security, building structure, code compliance, parking and stormwater maintenance, according to the contract approved by the board on Wednesday. The company will also analyze the buildings’ mechanical and electrical load capacities and academic and athletic needs before developing conceptual design plans.

The century-old middle school is a focal point of the analysis, Metrosky said.

“In February, Greensburg Salem is debt-free, so the board feels that we are in, finally, a financial position to begin to do some major upgrades to our facilities,” he said. “I think the consensus amongst the board is we know that the high school and Hutchinson are keeper facilities for the long term.

“The question is…the middle school. Is that a facility we put money in to bring up to speed? Or do we do something separate and new? We just don’t have the facts right now to make a qualified decision on which way to go.”

During its facility committee meetings, the board has discussed how to handle the middle school building, Metrosky said.

The logistics and costs of building new middle school classrooms on the current high school campus will be analyzed, as well as renovating the existing middle school building, said Superintendent Ken Bissell.

“The conceptual planning process will help the district make decisions for future planning and to be able to seek grant funding to offset future costs,” Bissell said via email.

It is unclear what might happen to the middle school if the district were to add middle school classrooms onto the high school campus.

“(We) are in very preliminary discussions that need to be ironed out in more detail,” Bissell said.

‘First step’

Regardless of what decisions the district makes about the middle school, Metrosky assured improvements will be made to the high school.

Parent Erin Guzzie, who has two children in the district, spoke in favor of the contract during the Wednesday board meeting.

“This plan is the first step in moving Greensburg Salem forward, as our facility needs are long overdue,” she said. “We applaud your efforts in taking the first steps to invest in our students and in the future of Greensburg Salem.”

Metrosky, who will leave the board when his term expires in December, encouraged future boards to continue investing in capital improvements in the district. He suggested the board direct the dollars it has spent on debt service in recent years — $2.7 million annually — to its capital budget.

“It’s going to be so tempting at budget time for people wanting to use that money to cover up a deficit and not raise taxes,” he said. “It’s critical that people understand that you have an operation side of the budget and a capital side.

“Keep that money in the capital and let’s improve these facilities.”