Seneca Valley ground breaking embraces future for district
JACKSON TWP — Looking from the windows of Seneca Valley’s intermediate high school library, superintendent Tracy Vitale pointed to the hillside beyond campus, where building and development has picked up in recent years. She highlighted the district’s place in a community with a growing student body, district population and tax base.
The message from speakers Tuesday, March 24, at the groundbreaking ceremony for the intermediate high school and performing arts center renovation was that the project will meet the modern-day needs of students while keeping up with the rapid growth of its communities.
The message also made clear that more school projects are on the way.
“We are doing more than beginning a construction project. We are literally building a learning environment that will serve the students and families across the 100 square miles that make up our district,” said Chet Henderson, intermediate high school principal. “This building is a testament to our shared belief in what education can and should be for every learner who walks through these doors.”
Officially approved in November, with bond authorization last month, the project will take up much of the existing parking lot between the senior and intermediate high school buildings connecting the two.
Once built, it will include a three-story classroom addition featuring 43 classrooms, 12 science labs, a biotechnology lab and flexible collaboration spaces. It will also boast renovated gymnasiums, a renovated cafeteria, new outdoor classrooms, green spaces and improved campus accessibility.
It will also include a new, 1,600-seat performing arts center and state-of-the-art facilities for music, orchestra, theater, chorus and band, plus expanded spaces for special education and life skills programs.
In total, the project is expected to cost just under $118 million in brick-and-mortar spending.
“It’s a sizable job that’s very impactful,” project manager John Pappas said. “It’s a lot of planning. It’s a lot of time, you got to get through bidding, but it’s wonderful to be here on a day like today, getting to celebrate that milestone. The work is starting and it’s a long ways to go with milestones in between, but the only thing more exciting than this is when you get to cut the ribbon.”
For months, the project garnered controversy in the community due to its size and scope, the impact on local taxpayers and what many felt was a lack of transparency from the district and board.
School officials have pointed to years of planning, saying things like feasibility studies and receiving community input went into their decision making. They say the project will support students as they prepare for “the opportunities and challenges of the future,” as assistant superintendent Sean McCarty described it.
“Projects like this do not happen overnight. They are the result of years of thoughtful planning, collaboration, conversations with people who care deeply about our schools — families, staff, students and community members” McCarty said. “Through that process, one thing was made clear: Seneca Valley continues to grow, no surprise there. Our facilities must grow and evolve along with the incredible programs we provide to our students every single day.”
While deliberating the project, school board President Eric DiTullio frequently pointed to past growth projections showing a significant increase in new residents and houses built within the district.
DiTullio has also pointed to physical elements of the intermediate high school described as outdated. For example, when the auditorium was originally built, its 1,000 seats provided one seat for every 14 members of the community. Now, he said, even with increased capacity, it only provides one seat for every 37 community members in the district.
“Since that time in the ‘80s, we have seen another doubling of the population of the school district, almost 60,000 people. We’ve seen projections suggesting will see that increase another 50% in the next 20 to 30 years,” DiTullio said.
The intermediate high school was built in 1964. At Tuesday’s groundbreaking, Vitale said the building has “seen the end of its life” and lasted “well beyond its shelf life.”
Vitale said Tuesday the district saved over $32 million for this project alone.
She also touted Moody’s giving Seneca Valley one of the highest bond ratings for Pennsylvania school districts, which “will help when the district goes to buy its bonds.”
“No one wants their taxes to go up,” Vitale said. “No one wants that. But in the same token, this board has been committed to capital improvement projects for 15 years, at least, and they have been saving.”
Speakers at the ground breaking said the new wing of the intermediate high school and other renovated portions of the building will help students prepare for a future world and job market and help students grow exponentially in other areas, like the fine arts.
With the renovation underway, Vitale acknowledged during the ceremony that “elementaries are next,” and said the board “just met in committee” three weeks ago to discuss what’s next, even if planning takes five or six more years.
“Now this won’t be the last step. There will be more. There will be more building at Seneca Valley. There will be more renovations, because we need to accommodate the student population, but beyond that, fixing aging buildings,” Vitale said.
