In winter 2023, an analysis by KCBA architects revealed that eight Central Bucks School District elementary schools needed significant renovations. The schools in question are Barclay, Buckingham, Doyle, Gayman, Kutz, Linden, Titus, and Warwick.
At a Business Operational Support Services meeting on Sept. 25, Head of Operations Tara Hauser addressed the CBSD school board with a presentation outlining possible approaches to tackling the renovations.
The operation, titled “Update the Eight,” offers four potential action plans. The majority of their plans involve closing at least Linden Elementary if not also Doyle and Kutz.
Each plan presents its own logistical and financial challenges, but Yanni explained that “it is imperative that our district develop and maintain a comprehensive, multi-year capital plan to ensure that our schools remain not only operable but conducive to a high-quality education for all students.”
In her presentation, Hauser began by giving important context on the history of the schools. She explained that, of the eight elementary schools being discussed, many of them have not seen significant renovations in over 30 years.
Warwick Elementary, for example, was constructed in 1919 and has not been updated since 1977. Kutz Elementary was built in 1936, Titus in 1951, Buckingham in 1955, Gayman and Linden in 1960, Barclay in 1965, and Doyle in 1966.
As a result, all eight are lacking air quality control units and require new HVAC systems. Many also require major updates to their electrical systems to bring them up to ADA compliance.
The architects at KCBA insisted that Doyle and Linden are not worth the cost of renovating and highly recommended their replacement. They suggested that Warwick and Kutz could also stand to be replaced, but could successfully be renovated.
“We know these buildings are in rough shape. They all need a significant amount of work,” said Hauser, “so we wanted to come to you [the board] with multiple options.”
As such, Hauser’s first suggested plan takes aim at Doyle, Linden, and Kutz. In this approach, a new school would be built on the land surrounding the current Doyle Elementary.
This new building would accommodate students from Doyle, Kutz, and those from Linden on the path to CB West. The students on track for CB East would be transferred to Cold Spring since its entire student body is already East bound. Estimates say that this would cost almost $219 million over ten years, making this the cheapest of the proposed plans.
Hauser used a study provided by FutureThink to predict the size of the student bodies at the time of construction in 2033. According to these numbers, a new Doyle Elementary would be welcoming 380 students from the old Doyle, 352 from Kutz, and 215 from Linden-West. The remaining 90 Linden-East students would be absorbed by Coldspring. The new Doyle would then have a student population of about 947.
The Linden property would likely be used as swing space during construction and later repurposed. The Kutz property might be sold to return some revenue to the district. The remaining schools would receive their needed upgrades.
The second plan is simply renovating all eight schools. These renovations would be extremely involved. Most of the schools would need full repairs and upgrades. As a result, this plan looks to be more expensive than the previous option with an estimated cost of about $234.5 million.
Along with the HVAC and electrical work required at all eight schools, some would need full gutting and rebuilding. Kutz and Warwick need all of their casework redone and most of their technology updated. Many of the classrooms in Warwick also need to be reconfigured to be made larger.
Buckingham needs additional upgrades to its waterlines. Barclay requires less work since its HVAC system was updated in 2005. Gayman needs only the basic HVAC and electrical enhancements.
Titus would receive these basics, as well as some additional parking to facilitate smoother traffic flow between the school, its bus lanes, and Route 611. Doyle, Kutz, and Linden would also be receiving updates to their playgrounds.
The third plan would see the construction of two new buildings, one on the property of Doyle and one on the property of Warwick. The new Doyle location, like in the first plan, would accommodate students from the current Doyle, Kutz, and Linden-West.
An entirely new Warwick building would be the most expensive course of action with a total cost of around $271.5 million.
The new Warwick would keep its same student body but would be built larger to accommodate growing populations in the area. It would allow for the potential offloading of students from Barclay and Jamison if ever necessary and would facilitate the construction of more special education classrooms.
The final plan would be combining just Doyle and Linden-West in a new building on the Doyle property, and leaving the remaining six to be renovated. This plan would roughly cost almost $250 million.
None of the projected prices include the net cost after the potential sale of one or more properties.
At the operations meeting, the topic of financing these projects was touched on briefly. In his email to CBSD families, Yanni described the discussion as nothing more than an “initial introduction.”
Scott Shearer, managing director at PFM Financial Advisors, addressed the board to give an overview of municipal bonds and how they might be utilized to finance the project. He gives a very shallow overview of some of the district’s options, including public bonds, private bank loans, or bond pool loans.
Shearer explains that, right now, interest rates for loans are “below historical averages,” describing the paths forward as an “overall good time.” Since no decisions have been made yet, Shearer could give no official final numbers regarding financing.
Hauser did admit that the renovations would most likely require tax increases. According to PhillyBurbs.com, the 2024-2025 budget for CBSD was already raised drastically earlier this year.
The budget “raises property taxes by 5.3 percent, the maximum permitted by state law without seeking a special exception, leaving the average property taxpayer to pay about $300 more this year.” This represents the largest tax hike for the district in over a decade, following several years with no tax adjustments at all. The board attributed this drastic uptick in part to “the short-sighted budgeting of prior administrations,” according to PhillyBurbs.
Board member Rick Haring stated in the operations meeting that “prior to this, there was not a good long-term plan in place,” and that it is “very upsetting that all of us are having to deal with something that should have been factored in in a long-term plan properly to do this little by little.” He emphasized that he is aware of the effect these plans will have on the community, saying “It’s disappointing, but it’s what we’re facing right now.”
CBSD is simultaneously in the midst of another expensive initiative; grade realignment. Hauser said that the discussion about the eight elementary schools is being handled independently of the realignment motions, stating that “one does not create a need for the other,” and that the eight schools, in particular, are “functionally deficient.”
The board said they will provide more information about the cumulative effects of both projects on taxpayers when that information is available.
No matter which option is chosen for Update the Eight, construction would not begin until 2028 with the potential new schools not opening until fall of 2031. Yanni also assures the community that “we do not anticipate that any of these options will reduce staff; we would not engage in a series of potential construction projects with the intent to reduce staff.”
In his email to CBSD families, Yanni promised that “our Board and Leadership Team will always remain transparent with the community; therefore, I want to be clear that absolutely no decisions have been made about which option to choose.”