WESTFALL, PA — Things are running a bit behind schedule, but officials of the Delaware Valley (DV) School District are moving on a busy construction schedule.

New elementary school

In June, DV Superintendent John Bell had hoped that by the October meeting most of the planning preparations for the $30 million Delaware Valley Elementary School (DVES) project adjoining Matamoras Airport Park would be completed and the board would be “talking turkey,” about the new $6 to $10 million Career Technology Education (CTE) addition adjoining the south side of the high school.

But three months after Bell’s original planned date, on October 16 the board approved an Act 34 resolution, the forerunner for a state-required, November 13 public hearing, which will include an overview of the district as well as details of the new elementary school. Architect Don Flynn said he anticipated only one additional meeting with the borough council to conclude the local permitting and he saw no obstacles.

The approval came after a land acquisition meeting, which was essentially a rehearsal for Flynn’s November hearing presentation.

The 6:30 p.m. hearing will be held at the district office, prior to the board’s regular work session.

Final state approvals from the state education department would lead to ground breaking next April or May and some 14 months of construction. The new building is expected to receive students in August of 2016.

Career tech proposal

The Career Tech Education (CTE) project last week was still laboring through discussion at the board’s facilities committee, where four design variations and the means to pay for them are yet unresolved.

Board members at the facilities committee session prior to the regular board meeting appeared to be leaning toward a high-end CTE project. Flynn projected the cost at $12 million, but added that “hungry contractors” may still provide lower bids.

Bell suggested that funding needs would be clearer after bids were opened in February or March.

DV will be supplementing construction funding with proceeds from the projected sale of the Santos tract, which was a prior site proposed for the new school, adding to some $30 million in borrowing budgeted over several fiscal years.

Business manager Bill Hessling anticipated some $7 to $8 million would be available for the CTE project.

Board member Jack Fisher suggested that $8 million would not fund CTE and that $35 million would be required for all the proposed work.

Flynn said the earliest that a CTE project might get under way was the summer of 2016, with completion in the following summer.

Noting an apparent CTE plurality of support, board member Sue Casey said this would put an end to discussion of a second high school in Dingmans. “We won’t have the funding. Dingmans is not going to get a high school, so stop talking about it.”