June Newsflash
New buildings planned at Germantown, Olney, Overbrook
Three neighborhood high schools – Germantown, Olney, and Overbrook – were recently added to the District’s “wish list” of schools projected to receive new buildings under the School District’s $1.5 billion Capital Improvement Program.
The District plans to spend $62 million over three years at each school to fund building improvements starting during the 2006-07 school year, according to a seven-year capital plan budget approved by the School Reform Commission at a May 26 public meeting.
Of the 23 elementary, K-8, and high schools scheduled to receive new buildings through capital plan funds, the Germantown, Overbrook, and Olney projects have the highest price tags, with $62 million budgeted for each of these large high schools. This exceeds the cost projections for the other 11 high schools, including the $50 million budgeted for a new Microsoft High School.
Underscoring that the projects aren’t scheduled to start until 2006-07, District CEO Paul Vallas said these costs are only estimates.
“We haven’t secured the funding yet,” he said. “Anything beyond 2006 hasn’t been finalized.”
District spokesman Cameron Kline added, “We typically reach out to the school community about a year in advance of planning and design.”
Olney High School was targeted for major renovations when the capital plan was unveiled in December 2002. Vallas reported that the renovations could include a new building addition.
The combination of a facilities assessment and the District’s plan to reduce high school size landed both Germantown and Overbrook in the Capital Improvement Program.
Germantown principal Katherine Murphy said from her prior meetings with District officials, “It was really clear that all the high schools that are large would be downsized.”
Murphy said although she had heard talk of a possible building replacement for her school, she hadn’t seen anything in writing until now. She said she is waiting for details about the plan for Germantown to unfold.
“I don’t know what it really means,” she said. “I think the planning process is going to be interesting.”
Overbrook principal Ethelyn Payne Young said while her students “deserve a new school,” she is focused on the short-term building improvements to be made this year, including a new roof to address major leaking problems.
“Who knows what’s going to happen in the next five years?” she said.
The 14 high school projects which are budgeted to receive some form of a new facility are: Audenried, Bartram Motivation (addition), Miller (CEP conversion), Dobbins, Fels, Franklin Science Institute, Germantown, Kensington, Lankenau (addition), Microsoft, the Northeast region (a new high school), Olney, Overbrook, and West Philadelphia.