Tamaqua looks at school facilities

Tamaqua Area School District officials are planning to hire a consultant to look at all district buildings and identify areas that need maintenance and upgrades.

The school board voted unanimously Tuesday night to send out a request for proposals for a districtwide assessment of facilities.

Superintendent Ray Kinder said the assessment will likely include building security, but could also address other aspects like HVAC systems and modern classrooms.

“We have everything from that to infrastructure needs, macadam work, resurfacing will be coming fairly soon for our track. We’d like to find out what they are so it isn’t a nuisance or something that’s holding back some progress,” he said.

Kinder said the district has been looking into adding some classrooms which encourage different types of learning. That doesn’t just mean adding technology.

It could also include large group classrooms.

Kinder said students today can be productive in environments which you likely would not have seen in a school 25 years ago.

“They function much better because they’ve grown up with a lot of things around them,” he said.

Over the years, the district has increased security at its buildings, but like many schools, they see an opportunity to do more.

One area is the entrance to buildings. Kinder said a locked area for visitors entering the building would be one possibility.

Currently, visitors have to stand outside a locked front door so they can be identified by office staff.

“We have buildings that are heavily traveled. Right now we try to keep people outside the building until we can ascertain if they have business in the building,” he said.

The district recently received a $25,000 safe schools grant to fund the purchase of additional security cameras. They are also waiting to hear back from Harrisburg if the state plans to fund another grant application which was submitted by the district.