By: Helen Pettigrew
MONTGOMERY Summer vacation may bring shorter hours, fewer meetings and, of course, fewer students for township school district employees, but life is anything but quiet this summer due, in large part, to the district’s increasing enrollment.
Ongoing construction and preparations for the fall are far more than township schools would normally see in the summer months, according to Business Administrator Jim Strimple.
"I think it’s quite a bit of work for the school district to go through," Mr. Strimple said of all the action.
Mr. Strimple on July 9 appeared with Board of Education counsel at the Township Planning Board meeting 9, where the district received approval of a subdivision of about 5 acres of land on Orchard Road, east of the Orchard Hill Elementary School. The land will be purchased from Carol and Richard Hanson and used for a new parking lot and a new soccer field for the school.
The purchase was approved by voters in an October referendum to build a new high school, Mr. Strimple explained.
Meanwhile, work is expected to get underway shortly on some of the existing buildings at the site of the former Lloyd McCorkle Training School for Boys, which will be used for the new high school on Route 601.
Presently, asbestos is being removed at the site and the school board hopes to receive bids Monday for renovation of some of the buildings. This could allow the board offices and staff to be moved to the site of the new high school as early as February, according to Mr. Strimple.
"If we’re able to award in the end of July, we hope to start (the renovation) in August," Mr. Strimple said.
Included in the renovation of the McCorkle buildings, according to Mr. Strimple, is putting in "a new electrical system, new heating and ventilation, walls will be torn down and others will be built up. It’s a pretty extensive renovation."
The installation of 14 trailers at the High School and Middle School on Burnt Hill Road is underway, with electrical work ongoing.
The modular units will be used beginning in the fall as classroom space, to help address a projected enrollment increase. The High School, built for 850 students, presently has about 935 students and enrollment is projected at 1,340 in 2003-2004 and 1,755 the following year.
Also planned this summer is an expansion of the district’s bus garage and repaving of the high school parking lot. Mr. Strimple said the district has awarded bids for the expansion and is waiting for a township permit.
In addition, Mr. Strimple said, about 40 parking spaces will be added between Burnt Hill Road and the trailers presently used for the board offices. This lot will be gravel and largely used for student parking, he said.
