Community gets tour of remodeled high school
David Hauser, Lehighton Area High School assistant principal, shows off a 1920 LHS yearbook, one of the highlights of the school’s memorabilia case. The case is located in the office and updated as new items are found. According to Hauser, the addition of the case is one way for the district to promote its Tribe Pride initiative. School board members and residents toured the high school before a board workshop.
Jonathan Cleaver, Lehighton Area School District superintendent, describes a project in the high school’s Science Technology Engineering Arts and Mathematics laboratory. Ninth-grade students at Lehighton take a class, which replaced earth science, in the STEAM lab, but administrators are discussing adding an after-school club to give students more exposure to its offerings.
Board members and residents tour Lehighton Area High School’s fitness room before a school board workshop Monday night. The 3,700-square-foot center and a wrestling room of equal size above it cost $577,985. JARRAD HEDES/TIMES NEWS
It came as no surprise to Lehighton Area School District officials that issues with the original construction of its high school in 1993 would play a factor in a nearly complete overhaul of the building more than 20 years later. What nobody knew, however, was what started as headlined by a heating, ventilation and air-conditioning renovation would be expanded to include a full facade replacement and extension of a fire-rated wall.
Monday night, several community members joined the board on a tour of the renovated high school before a board workshop meeting.
“We knew there were issues with the facade, but we didn’t know the extent until the contractors really started getting into it,” Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver said. “We made some changes to the project, like changing the brick on the building and also doing the final cleaning with our in-house staff, which saved well over $100,000 between them. Given some of those changes, we were able to stay within our contingency costs for the project.”
The district also had to install a waterproofing membrane and foundation drain. Cleaver said the district is keeping a tab on how much money was added to the project because things were not done properly during original construction.
“That list should be ready by the end of the month now that things are wrapping up,” he said. “I believe the school cost around $11 million to build and we are very close to exceeding that if we haven’t already on renovating it.”
During the tour, Cleaver highlighted not only the facade replacement and HVAC upgrades, but also a new fitness room, wrestling room, Science Technology Engineering Arts and Mathematics SmartLab, auditorium improvements, and an enhanced secure entrance.
In 2015, Lehighton approved $25.7 million in renovations to both its middle and high schools with the McClure Company installing a four-pipe central heat pump system in the schools for $7.72 million.
Because it’s an energy savings, or ESCO, project, McClure is guaranteeing the district over $80,000 per year in utility savings between the two schools.
Lehighton is anticipating $20 million in state PlanCon reimbursement for its middle and high schools, and construction of a new elementary center. The district has already received over $1 million of that PlanCon refund based on the $4.5 million it has paid on the borrowed amount.
Topic areas within Lehighton’s SmartLab include alternative and renewable energy, circuitry, computer graphics, digital communications, mechanics and structures, robotics and control technology, scientific data and analysis, and software engineering. All freshmen take a course in the SmartLab, replacing earth science.
“This is my favorite classroom to come into because there are more questions than answers,” said David Hauser, assistant high school principal. “You hear students asking how do we do something and 45 minutes later you come back and they have figured it out.”
Principal Sue Howland said the district is looking at offering a club activity in the SmartLab after school so more students have exposure to it.
“It’s all about the critical thinking piece,” she said.
Tour guests also saw the 3,700-square-foot fitness center and a wrestling room of equal size above it, which cost $577,985. Students come in as early as 6:30 a.m. for a class to open up their schedule for other academic offerings later in the day. The high school auditorium received an upgrade including new seats.
Cleaver touted Lehighton’s ability to keep taxes down during the projects with the lowest average millage increase in the area from 2011-17. He linked that to several factors including the business office getting a great grasp on the budgetary process.
“Our teachers worked with us on a contract, we were able to refinance bonds and secure critical grants that have enabled us to keep taxes level for the past several years,” he said. “We are also seeing signs of economic growth in the area over that time. The borough and the townships have worked hard to get businesses in the area.”
