Federal funding has been earmarked for a crucial part of the proposed Quaker Valley High School.

The proposed 167,000-square-foot school is on 150 acres off of Camp Meeting Road. The district property straddles Leet Township, Edgeworth and Leetsdale. However, the school itself will be in Leet.

The district secured $850,000 in congressional Community Project Funding earlier this month, part of the $15.5 million spending bill passed by the US House of Representatives.

Quaker Valley officials plan to use their portion to widen Camp Meeting Road at Beaver Street and provide sidewalks and bicycle paths to the lower entrance of the school.

Charlie Gauthier, district director of facilities and administrative services, said this part of the overall project will improve site distances as well as pedestrian safety and help ease traffic concerns.

“We’ve known for a while this was in the works, and it’s just good to have to make those improvements we told the community we’d make all along,” Gauthier said.

There are no matching funds required, and a majority of this work is in Leetsdale.

Leetsdale council president Maria Napolitano said she heard about the House spending bill and was pleased to see an investment in the area.

“I’m really happy that our elected representatives are working together with local communities to bring money to our area in order to solve issues of urgent priority,” she said. “Leetsdale will do its work and provide our input on the parts of the project that fall under our ordinances and responsibilities.”

Gauthier said the state support should cover most, if not all, of the cost of the aforementioned work. Plans and costs are still being finalized.

Funds will be administered through PennDOT once the district is ready for that portion of the project.

Camp Meeting Road was a point of contention at various Leet zoning hearing board hearings a few years ago.

Multiple people at the time raised concerns about how dangerous the road is and increased traffic due to the new school.

Superintendent Tammy Andreyko said the state funding will help address those concerns.

“We are thrilled to receive this $850,000, which marks another incredible milestone as we prepare to build our new high school,” she said. “This project will be instrumental in ensuring that the route to and from our new school is improved and provides opportunities for our students to walk and bike to and from the new building safely. Not only will this benefit our students, but this is also a significant investment in the safety and connectedness of our community.”

Site plans have since moved to the discussion and review stages with the township’s planning commission.

Leetsdale planning commission also received site plans. They are expected to discuss the project in the coming months.

Gauthier said the district is still on schedule to have the proposed school ready for the 2027-28 school year.

School district officials in September set the maximum building construction costs for the proposed high school at about $72.1 million and the maximum project cost at $105 million.

More information about the project is available on the district’s website under the Blueprint QV section of the “District” tab.

The current high school was built in 1926 and has undergone several renovations over the years.

District officials said at previous meetings that there are no plans to sell the property or change its use once the new school is built.

Note: a previous version of the story listed the money as state funds.

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