The Salisbury Township School District operations committee met May 6 to discuss the various expenses and costs the district will be experiencing in the upcoming year. There were a variety of topics addressed, mainly pertaining to the district’s budget and upcoming projects in the spring and summer months.

Director of Facilities and Safety & Security Bill Bracket reported on several grants received by the district and how the money will be utilized. Salisbury received $175,000 in the form of a school safety grant, which was created by the PA Act 44 of 2018. This Act sets aside $60 million to be allocated for Pennsylvania school programs.

From this money received, two projects were created to increase the safety of school students and to protect the facilities in the districts.

Project one will be to update the middle school camera system to match the current high school system. The project will cost $110,000 and will create no blind spots inside or outside of the school. The installation will happen during the summer and will consist of an additional 55 cameras being added.

The second project will swap the outdated door hardware throughout the district to increase the safety of the students. The old-style wooden panic bars can be locked with a chain, which can lock people inside. The Virginia Tech School shootings was an example used, as the shooter locked the people inside the buildings. From this awful tragedy, schools and facilities have learned the proper ways to stop this from happening and the school is now making every precaution to ensure that. The wooden doors will be replaced with glass doors in order to ensure people can exit if need be.

The next topic addressed was the upcoming 2020 high school projects. The first project will be the installation of a new turf field for the high school stadium. Next, an expansion and renovation to the concession stands and storage garage will be conducted, though the terms and conditions of the expansion have yet to be finalized.

The existing gym roof will be re-roofed with a coating that will add an additional 20 years and will include a warranty to the roof. Additionally, the cafeteria exit doors will be replaced as addressed earlier. The total of these projects comes to approximately $2.8 million.

The next big topic was the discovery of several cracks within the high school acid neutralization tank. Last month, the tank was inspected and it was found to have three cracks at the bottom of the tank. This caused the tank to not hold any water, which is a disaster in the proper neutralization of the material it processes. It has been causing a bad smell throughout the west wing of the high school and was replaced May 7.

These tanks are polymer-based and should last for the lifetime of the building itself. The construction management firm that initially installed this tank eight years ago has stated they will assist financially.

From all of this, the capital improvement plan subcommittee recommended three different options regarding the plans moving forward.

The committee decided to go with option A, which will proceed with the design of the high school projects. The next 18 months will be spent in a feasibility study to define potential futures for the district over the next 20-30 years in educational program design and facilities. This study will require seeking professional services through various experts to design the future options for the district. After the 18 months, the board will get together to re-evaluate the district’s financial and facilities profiles.