File photo
A new committee in the Council Rock School District will look toward the future.
At last week’s school board meeting, the board voted 6-2 to create the ad hoc Master Capital Planning Committee, which will look at consolidation and redistricting.
Superintendent Robert Fraser said the first meeting of the committee chaired by school board member Andy Block will be held Wednesday February 8 at 7 p.m. at The Chancellor Center. Future meeting dates are still to be determined.
Board members talked at the meeting about looking at the possibility of closing an elementary school, future enrollment, redistricting, expanding educational programs like full-day kindergarten and use of its non-educational facilities.
There is added pressure on the Master Capital Planning Committee and school board as some of the issues they are tasked with need to be done before the brand new Newtown Middle School and upgraded Holland Middle School open for the 2018-2019 school year.
At a school board meeting in the fall, officials said their goal was to vote on a final redistricting plan by January 2018. The date would allow the administration to implement their redistricting plan in a timely fashion.
School Board President Ed Tate said last week that the community and other stakeholders would be invited to share their “thoughts and concerns” at ad hoc meetings. He said the board was considering larger venues in hopes of high turnout for the meetings.
In addition, the district will look at the possibility of repurposing Richboro Middle School when it closes. The building, according to Fraser, could replace the rented Sloan School facility in Newtown or the district maintenance facility. The Sloan School hosts numerous special programs and costs the district just over $430,000.
The goal for the master capital plan is to keep focus on the children, Fraser has stated in the past.
