Editorial: What’s next for Hempfield’s building project?
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First, Hempfield Area School District got wildly over-budget bids for its high school renovation project.
Then it decided to hire an owner’s representative — a position that sounds a lot like a project manager but isn’t — to keep things on course.
Now the architect has resigned.
Are the Hempfield taxpayers really getting their money’s worth out of this building project?
The estimated $130 million idea has been on the table officially since 2020. Project manager SitelogIQ was hired in January 2022. Core Architects was engaged a month later. Both companies had previously been behind the yearlong feasibility study that set the project on its path.
The middle schools were redistricted in a process that was painful for many families. All the ninth graders were redirected to Harrold Middle School to free up space for construction to happen at the high school while the daily work of education went on.
Now those kids — and likely the next class or two or more — will be shunted off to this makeshift not-quite-high-school for no good reason. Is that fair to them educationally?
Some researchers have suggested that student performance suffers in transition years — like the first year of middle school or high school. Making ninth and tenth both transition years isn’t optimal but could be necessary for construction. But if the construction isn’t happening, what was the point?
Interim Superintendent Kimberlie Rieffannacht — while talking about the “amicable” separation like it’s a celebrity breakup — says the next step is to hire a new architect. But is it?
Maybe before signing another contract with another company that will get more taxpayer money for a project that may still not get much cheaper, hard conversations are needed. And those conversations should be out in the open.
What exactly is necessary in the renovation? What are the extras? What can be easily excised? What do the people still want? And how has the delay affected student needs?
In short, what are the priorities and how have they changed since 2021 when Core and SitelogIQ were hired? How have they changed since the project was bid?
These are discussions that may well have happened between the various parties via email or phone calls or even meetings. Rieffannacht said Monday there were conversations with the architect but did not elaborate.
But if they have to go back to the drawing board for a new architect, Hempfield should consider going all the way back to a real, frank discussion with the people about where things stand and where they are headed.