NORTHAMPTON, Pa. — Northampton Area school directors are considering five partial renovation options for Moore Elementary after voting to keep the school open last month.
School directors asked the district administration to develop plans to partially renovate Moore Elementary School over the course of two summers, starting in the summer of 2025.
But some school directors think a partial renovation is a temporary fix that will cost the district more in the long run. Others think the district needs to act now, otherwise Moore Elementary will never be updated.
At the Nov. 11 school board meeting, Chris Haller, a project manager with CHA Consulting, provided school directors with five partial renovation options to consider for Moore Elementary.
All options would include replacing hot and cold water piping, heating boilers, chillers and the control system for heating, ventilation and air conditioning.
School directors will approve one of the options at their Dec. 2 meeting.
The first option would cost $24.5 million; the second option would cost $19.5 million; the third option would cost $15.5 million; the fourth option would cost $20.5 million; and the fifth option would cost about $29 million.
All options would include replacing hot and cold water piping, heating boilers, chillers and the control system for heating, ventilation and air conditioning.
Options one and three would also replace classroom unit ventilators; whereas the other options would instead opt to replace the current HVAC system with a four-pipe vav system, which will also be in the new East Allen Elementary School.
As for the electrical scope, all options would replace the fire alarm system and interior lighting, as well as provide necessary electrical devices, receptacles and connections for the HVAC updates.
Options one and five provide for more extensive updates, such as an upgraded data communications system and a new video surveillance system.
As for plumbing, options one, four and five would replace domestic water heaters and upgrade the existing domestic water distribution.
Options one and five would also upgrade the under-slab sanitary and storm piping, as well as the underground storm and rain water piping. Options two and three would not involve any plumbing updates.
Options one, two and four would updated the current roof with an EPDM single-ply roof; whereas options three and five would replace the current roof with a built-up roof, which has multiple layers.
The options all would also entail some other general updates, with options one and five providing for the most extensive of these.
Jonathan Jenny, director of operations and maintenance, said options one and five are the only choices that “truly address all of our problems.”
“So what we’re doing is putting band-aids on the problems."School Director John Becker
School Director John Becker questioned why a full renovation was off the table.
“So what we’re doing is putting band-aids on the problems,” he said. “I’ve seen it happen, [you] spend a lot of money on renovations and never get what you need.”
School Director Ross Makary said it would be “absolutely nuts” to proceed with a partial renovation of Moore Elementary instead of demolishing the current building and constructing an entirely new one.
He said the district does not need five elementary schools at this time based on enrollment. Moore Elementary could be temporarily closed until the district can construct a new building on the property, he said.
“We have the time right now because we do not need — we want, we do not need — a fifth elementary school at this time,” Makary said.
School Director Josh Harris pushed back against Becker and Makary.
“The Moore Township residents spoke very loudly about not wanting the new school before their school was repaired,” he said.
“So everybody that says we’re putting a band-aid on the school — that’s because everyone spent the money already,” Harris added. “There’s nothing left to fix the school properly.”
