SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — Parkland School District likely will take on two expansion projects: at Parkland High School and Orefield Middle School.
More details are coming to light about what they will look like — and how much they will cost.
The current total budget for Vision 2030, the district’s plan to deal with school overcrowding, is just under $210 million, according to a presentation made at Parkland School Board committee meetings last week.
2024-05-06 Vision 2030 Presentation by Olivia Marble on Scribd
That includes $54.6 million for Parkland High School, $122 million for Orefield Middle School, $19 million for a new turf sports stadium at the high school and $11 million for a new bus garage.
The projected cost of building a new high school and middle school was $410 million, according to the presentation.
"This is still a work in progress."Superintendent Mark Madson
The school board voted in December to approve construction agreements with Alvin H. Butz and Alloy 5 for the Parkland High School expansion project.
The board has not yet approved the services for the Orefield Middle School project.
District Superintendent Mark Madson said the plans for the expansions are preliminary.
“This is still a work in progress," Madson said. "And these are our preliminary thoughts based on input from the staff, input from the team Alloy 5, Butz, from us.
“So we need to continue to get input from the board on some of the things you're seeing and that you're hearing.”
Madson will present the plans to the general Parkland School Board at a meeting on Tuesday, May 21.
PHS expansion
The proposed additions to Parkland High School would be two new wings at the back of the school. It would connect the wings from the back and create two enclosed courtyards.
The new wings would have 30 classrooms, 10 science labs and large group instruction spaces, according to the current designs.
The cafeteria would be expanded to accommodate up to 1,000 students. The nurse’s suite, the drawing lab and the design lab all also would be expanded.
Alloy 5 representatives said they also are proposing that the district renovate the library and add a new athletics lobby, though it is “not in the base budget.”
Some of the locker bays in the front of the school would be removed to add administrative space, according to the current plans.
Late last year, the high school’s administrators asked students to fill out a form saying whether or not they wanted a locker, according to the school’s newspaper, the Parkland Trumpet.
Construction at Parkland High School is slated to start in early 2026 and finish in July 2027.
OMS expansion
Monday’s presentation showed preliminary plans for the Orefield Middle School expansion and renovations. Madson said the plans are not as far along as the ones for the high school and likely will change.
The current plans show a large part of the building being demolished and being turned into a parking lot. It highlights 200,000 square feet of “buildable area” north of the existing building.
Madson said the district still is considering how much of the current building should be renovated versus being demolished.
“We're really still at the information gathering stage and talking with the staff and getting their input like we did at the high school already,” Madson said.
“So we're not quite in the same stage, but we obviously have some ideas.”
Construction at OMS is slated to begin in early 2027 and finish in August 2029.
Other projects
Madson said a primary concern with Orefield Middle School is the pick-up/drop off area.
“We really don't have what we would consider to be an adequate parent drop-off and bus loop,” Madson said. “And a lot of that is because of the buses that are parked there.”
Currently, the district’s buses are stored at OMS. So Madson said the district is considering building an $11 million bus garage outside of the middle school site to relieve congestion.
The district also is considering moving its stadium from OMS to Parkland High School at a cost of $19 million.
The proposed 8,500-capacity stadium, called Multipurpose Athletics and Wellness Complex, would be built just south of Parkland High School.
It would have a field house with a concession stand, restrooms, a turf practice field and its own parking lot.
The bus garage is slated to be built by April 2027, and the complex is slated to be built by March 2028.
