Greensburg Salem plans session to review, get feedback on school facilities

The state of Greensburg Salem School District’s facilities will be the topic of a public meeting set for Jan. 17 in the high school auditorium.

“It’s really an informational meeting, to talk about the current state of the facilities,” said district Superintendent Ken Bissell, “so we can start to collect some information and see if we can build a team to work together with the (school board’s) facilities and finance committee to look at what steps we want to take.”

In addition to parents and community members, he said, Greensburg Salem is inviting local governing bodies and organizations from throughout the district to attend. That includes officials from the City of Greensburg, Salem Township, South Greensburg and Southwest Greensburg boroughs, Seton Hill University, Greensburg Community Development Corp. and Westmoreland County Economic Growth Connection.

Bissell said those attending will gather from 5:30 to 6 p.m., with the meeting to be held from 6 to 7 p.m.

There will be an opportunity for attendees to provide feedback through a survey, he said.

School board President Jeff Metrosky said one aim of the meeting is to help district officials “get in a position to be able to do things fiscally responsibly.”

In addition to fiscal feasibility, Bissell suggested the district should look at facilities needs from three perspectives: safety and security; accessibility; and pride and opportunity.

Regarding the latter point, he said, “For some of our buildings, it’s been 30 years since there has been a renovation.

“Our kids go to other schools, and they see a renovation. Then they come back to ours. For them, it’s that sense of pride.”

The high school locker room, last updated in 1992, is one area that has come up repeatedly when the school board has discussed facilities needs. Proposals the district received from consultants in June 2022 but did not proceed with ranged from about $1.5 million to $3 million.

The district’s architectural and engineering adviser, Civil & Environmental Consultants, will participate in the Jan. 17 meeting, Bissell said. The firm has cited an estimated cost of $91.2 million for a potential wish list of building projects over 10 years.

It also worked with the district as the school board recently approved some initial interior and exterior facilities improvements.

In October, the board agreed to tap pandemic recovery funds for HVAC upgrades at the high school and Nicely and Metzgar elementary schools, at a cost of close to $1.7 million.

The district recently completed installation of an outdoor basketball court at the middle school and new fencing at Offutt Field at a combined cost of about $237,000. The middle school project was covered in part by a donation from district bus contractor DMJ Transportation.