Quaker Valley School District officials say they have no plans to sell the current high school or change its use after a new school is built.

Superintendent Tammy Andreyko made the announcement at the April 18 board meeting, and expanded on those comments through email with the Tribune-Review.

The school is located at 625 Beaver St. and about 580 students are enrolled.

“The district owns this valuable property and uses it for a variety of purposes from academics to athletic events,” Andreyko said. “We have a long way to go with construction. Future planning and decision-making rests a great deal upon the completion of the new high school construction.”

The superintendent also addressed rumors of the 185,000-square-foot school being turned into some type of medical rehabilitation facility.

“Promulgating or suggesting other uses is currently gossip and often untrue gossip at that,” Andreyko said. “In respect to UPMC and Quaker Valley, at no time has UPMC had conversation with the district or the school board about using the existing building as a rehab center. Please follow our website and school board meetings for accurate updates.”

The district has been working for years on development of a new high school.

The proposed school is about 187,000 square feet. It sits on 150 acres of land off Camp Meeting Road. It straddles Edgeworth, Leetsdale and Leet.

BSHM Architects and Bohlin Cywinski Jackson Architects offered a video presentation and revealed more renderings of the school facade in early April.

The presentation featured slides of blended red brick, dark ashlar masonry and light Roman brick accenting entries with natural wood canopies and ceilings. Metal screening would be used on the roof to help conceal mechanical systems.

The presentations can be found under the school board section of the district’s website, qvsd.org.

Its site plan is expected to be submitted to the Leet planning commission in the coming months.

Charlie Gauthier, district director of facilities and administrative services, said there will be some core drilling and soil samples taken this summer, as well as discussions with Allegheny County and state Department of Environmental Protection officials about what permits will be required to move forward.

The goal is to have the project out for bid in December, break ground by next spring and have it ready by the 2027-28 school year.

Gauthier will be offering walking tours of the site at 210 Camp Meeting Road through May.

People can register for a tour through the district’s website. Participants are encouraged to wear comfortable shoes.

Financial projections holding

Meanwhile, the district’s early project cost projections of between $95 million and $105 million appear to be holding strong.

In March 2022, the board approved a new contract with Pittsburgh-based firm Thomas & Williamson LLC to provide professional consulting and program management services.

It was tasked to work with the district’s architectural and civil engineering teams, assist in the bidding process, review construction cost estimates, bid documents and specifications, as well as other work related to the project.

Jon Thomas, president and co-founder of the firm, delivered an update on his evaluations April 18.

He said the building could be constructed for about $98 million to $99 million despite inflation with labor costs increasing while material expenses decreasing slightly.

Thomas based those figures on a review of what he called 50% of the design development phase and reports from Engineering News-Record, a weekly magazine that provides analysis, data and other news for the construction industry worldwide.

“I’m continuing to tweak that because I had just received the 100% design development documents,” Thomas said. “I’ll continue estimating. … The design development is the phase before the final plans.”

He talked about some of the give and take with the site plan, evaluating square footage, classrooms and other related issues to keep things within budget.

“There’s still opportunities that we have for making improvement,” Thomas said. “It’s always a little bit of a trade off.”

Thomas has 40 years experience in the construction industry, including 30 years working with school districts throughout the country. The firm was previously hired by the district in 2019 and was instrumental in selecting the architects and civil engineers for the proposed school.

Gauthier said there is still more work to be done with Thomas and the architects, but feels confident about the latest updates.

“We are very pleased with where we are cost-wise,” he said. “We are very comfortable with that number.”

School director Jeff Watters, board treasurer, said the financial update reinforces the district’s commitment to fiscal responsibility when it comes to providing a new state-of-the-art facility for its students.

“I’m encouraged that we are where we are at this point with still some work to be done to be sure,” Watters said. “The fact that we’ve moved through the teeth of an inflationary environment and we find ourselves still in that $95 million to $105 million ceiling gives me optimism that we’re finding the right assumptions.

“We’re making the necessary trade offs to ensure we stay below (budget). My hope is that the inflationary environment continues to move towards a more favorable impact for us. I guess time will tell whether that is in fact the case.”

Watters also cited the Act 1 index and other laws such as the Local Government Unit Debt Act, which limits a school district’s outstanding debt they are allowed to have without voter approval, among the fiscal restrictions being followed.

Another financial update is expected within the next couple months.

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