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HAZLETON – Hazleton Area does not have enough money to cover all projects planned or proposed for the school district, the board said at a work session Thursday.
Capital Projects Chairman Steve Hahn told the board that of the two main construction projects the district has planned, the Harman-Geist Fieldhouse building renovation is the most important because the building fails to meet accessiblity standards and currently costs approximately $3,000 a month to heat.
But plans to renovate the auditorium at the Hazleton Elementary and Middle School are unlikely to go through because all bids came in well above what the district had budget for the project.
There also is not enough money to add classrooms, even though a new elementary school may be needed based on enrollment figures, board members said.
The district had a serious overcrowding problem that has only partially been alleviated by the addition of modular classrooms, board members agreed.
Planning classrooms would take two years from announcement to implementation, Hahn noted.
In all likelihood the district will likely need a tax increase next year even if costs are kept as low as possible, business manager Anthony Ryba said.
In other discussion, the board proposed adding a request that English as a Second Language teachers at the high school level be bilingual in Spanish. The numbers of students in the district need ESL in Spanish is severe, board members noted.
The board also noted that the October work session should involve discussion of the four-day school week, and what impact it could have on the district’s budget, as well as the overcrowding problems.