The Process: What we’ve done to identify our District’s most critical needs
For the past four years, we’ve been preparing for our District’s future by developing a long-range plan that allows us to continue to deliver a high-quality educational program. As we studied enrollment trends, we asked for community input through various surveys. Here is what we heard from our residents:
Planning to address our District’s most critical needs
The School Board concluded that a staged investment plan over the next decade, rather than trying to tackle everything at once, is the most responsible and beneficial plan for our District and communities. To address our most critical need, increased elementary enrollment growth, five options were reviewed including:
Option 1: Build a new elementary school on new land
Option 2: Build a new elementary school on existing land
Option 3: Build additions to existing schools
Option 4: Build an addition for grade 5 at the existing Springton Lake Middle School
Option 5: Build a new, larger elementary school and close the existing Glenwood Elementary School
Facility options evaluations matrix
*Option 5 was determined to be cost-prohibitive and went against one of the main tenets of creating neighborhood-scale schools. It is not included in the matrix above.
After much discussion and analysis, Option 1 was the preferred option to begin addressing our most critical facility needs. On Thursday, September 24, 2020, the School Board unanimously made the decision to build a new elementary school on new land.
However, this isn’t the end of our plan. As enrollment continues to increase and our District looks to better serve our students in the future, we will look to address the following items:
In 2024-2025, review middle school enrollment and needed renovations.
By 2026, make a decision on all-day kindergarten.
Also, by 2026, make decisions related to parity across all elementary schools.
By 2026 - 2028, be prepared to address high school renovation needs.
We are committed to further communications with our community as the new elementary school project progresses. We need your input!
What our District has done throughout this process:
In February 2016, an initial enrollment and demographic study was completed.
In the Spring of 2017, Marotta/Main Architects was hired to assist with a feasibility study and capacity study.
Community input workshops took place during the summer 2017.
Annual enrollment projection analyses were completed to verify the District’s increasing enrollment. The District has used all flexible spaces to accommodate growth and overcrowding including temporary portable classrooms.
In June 2018, a full facility study and assessment of all buildings was completed.
To address capital improvement needs as well as to appropriately respond to new state code (Act 44) for Pennsylvania schools implemented in 2018, the School Board invested $6.4 million in secured entrances at all schools, roofing and flooring repairs/replacement, HVAC replacements, waterproofing and remediation, fire alarm system upgrades, additional parking at Rose Tree Elementary, and the purchase of additional buses for transportation.
Ongoing conversations and stakeholder meetings surrounding our facility needs took place as we continued to monitor enrollment growth.
In February 2020, the District published a high-level enrollment overview so the community could learn more titled “Addressing Growth in the Rose Tree Media School District.”
Due to addressing needs related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the District temporarily paused planning efforts in March 2020.
In May 2020, efforts to address facility needs were renewed and ICS, a strategic facilities planning and construction firm, was hired to assist with this process.
The ICS team reviewed all content gathered to date and assisted in evaluating multiple options to address our District’s facility needs.
In the Summer of 2020, ICS completed a summary document evaluating different facility options that addressed our District’s most critical needs.
In August 2020, facility options to provide additional elementary-level space were presented, and live streamed, at the School Board Meeting.
During the School Board meeting on September 8, 2020, multiple options were evaluated by both the Board and administration.
On September 24, 2020, the School Board unanimously approved Option 1 (construct a new elementary school on new land proposed to open in Fall 2023).
Over the course of 24 months, 23 sites were evaluated based on extensive criteria including location, size, and cost of the property; attributes of the property (accessibility, entry points, utilities, drainage, soils, environmental impact, etc.); maintaining the current "community school" model; centralized to where residential development is occurring; and how to best minimize the impact on existing elementary school boundaries.
After an extensive review, SCHRADERGROUP was selected by the architecture selection committee as the best fit for the new elementary project.
As determined by District staff and the School Board, the site for the new school was selected in Edgmont Township. This decision, also based on extensive research and recommendations from internal and external experts, was determined to be an appropriate and safe location for a new school. The District moved forward in purchasing approximately 38 acres for the additional elementary school in Edgmont Township.
Important links from the timeline above:
Transparency is of the utmost importance to the District
Although the District was unable to divulge the location of the new school during the purchasing process due to privacy and confidentiality issues, the District is committed to transparent communication throughout the remainder of the process. This plan — and the process that led to its finalization — has been fully driven by educational stakeholders and input from the community.