Current Conditions
31°F - CLOUDY
(1140) (550) (290) (201) (135) (125) (63) (51) (43) (21) (21) (17) (12) (2)
The school board Thursday approved the pilot program and appointed an architect to design a new school that would help the district accommodate an expanded kindergarten program.
The school, proposed for grades five and six, would free up space at district elementary schools so they could add more kindergarten, and possibly pre-kindergarten, classes.
The board named Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates as architect and JPD Architects as construction manager for the grades 5-6 school project.
The new school, which would accommodate up to 1,100 students, would be built on district-owned land behind the high school.
The project is expected to cost $35 million to $40 million and be completed by summer 2012.
The district will pay Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates 6 percent to 6.5 percent of the project's total cost, or about $2.1 million to $2.4 million.
JPD will be paid about $4,000 a month for pre-reconstruction work and $10,000 a month for services provided after construction has begun. The maximum fee may not exceed $268,000.
Both companies are involved in a $22.5 million renovation and expansion at Bucher Elementary School that's expected to be completed by late next year.
The district expects to put the 5-6 project out for bid in early 2011.
The pilot full-day kindergarten program will be open to all district students, who will be chosen by lottery to participate.
Officials will compare the academic progress of the full-day pupils with that of their peers in the district's half-day and extended-day programs.
Manheim Township currently has 11 morning and afternoon classes and an extended-day program for students with academic problems.
Under that program, about 75 students attend half-day classes and receive 2½ hours of intensive literacy instruction at Reidenbaugh, Neff or Bucher elementary schools.
For several years, Manheim Township has been considering switching to full-day kindergarten, which proponents say better prepares students for academic success later in their school careers.
Thirteen of 17 school districts in Lancaster County offer full-day classes at some of their elementary schools, although only five districts — Columbia, Manheim Central, Hempfield, Pequea Valley and School District of Lancaster — have districtwide programs.
Statewide, the number of full-day programs has more than doubled since 2003. About 66 percent of all Pennsylvania public school students now attend full-day kindergarten.
If the Reidenbaugh pilot program is a success, the district would consider implementing a districtwide program in the 2012-13 school year.
Officials have yet to determine the cost of a districtwide program, which would likely require the hiring of five or six additional teachers, said superintendent Gene Freeman.
