The Franklin Regional School Board is trying to determine if it needs state permission to restart the Sloan “elementary campus” project if the board decides to move forward despite the covid-19 pandemic.

According to Department of Education guidelines regarding the pandemic, the district needs no waiver and can make that decision on its own.

“School districts should use best judgment in exercising their authority to continue critical construction projects, and should not seek a formal exemption through (the Department of Community and Economic Development),” the guidelines read.

For FR school board member Gary English, “critical” is the important part of the sentence.

“The Sloan project is not critical construction,” English said, adding that the guidelines are “inconsistent with the governor’s emergency edict.”

The board voted 6-3 Monday night to pursue construction waivers. Directors Herb Yingling, Paul Scheinert, Mark Kozlosky, Scott Weinman, Gregg Neavin and Deb Wohlin voted in favor. English was joined by Bill Yant and Ed Mittereder in voting against.

Solicitor Gary Matta said he’d been speaking with district administrators as well as construction project managers to discuss whether restarting construction was feasible amid the health and safety guidelines issued at both the state and federal levels.

“School districts and the contractors must ensure continuance of and compliance with the social distancing and other mitigation measures to protect employees and the public,” state guidelines read.

English and Yant didn’t see how that is possible.

“I don’t believe we can start this until we have a better handle on what’s going to happen and how we’re going to deal with it,” Yant said at Monday’s meeting.

Matta said those were among the concerns he’d spoken with district officials and project partners about.

“The administration, my office, the architect and the construction manager are still working through this,” he said. “We have to see the pros and cons of (restarting it), and we’ll advise the board on those efforts.”

Neavin, who works as an aviation sales manager for Chestnut Ridge Foam in Latrobe, referenced his own company — which is able to continue operating amid the pandemic — as an example of how the district could proceed.

“I’ve been following all these precautions, and I’m appalled by those folks who aren’t,” he said. “However, if they’re acting as professionals, following guidelines they’ve clearly laid out for us and we have satisfaction that they’re going to follow them, just as the employees of my company are doing right now in producing essential supplies for the U.S. government, I don’t see a reason we shut this down.”

Mittereder said he’d rather err on the side of caution.

“Realistically, you have to sit back and wait until we get some direction here,” he said. “Being that we have all these contracts out there, how does the word ‘pandemic’ figure into those? There’s really no one at fault here but this virus.”

English didn’t think the construction could be restarted safely anytime soon.

“I think it’s endangering the public in asking to push forward on this project,” he said.

The board’s next meeting is scheduled for April 13. Meetings are currently being livestreamed on YouTube.

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