By Shrija Krishnan, Staff Reporter
The T/E school district entered into an Agreement of Sale for a 1200 West Swedesford Road property on Jan. 17 for the specified purpose of building a sixth elementary school. The proposed construction would mark the district’s first new school building since Beaumont Elementary School was built in 1965.
The 15.2-acre, 86,000-square-foot property is currently on sale for $15.95 million. According to school board president Todd Kantorczyk, the site contains a single three-story corporate building and 80,000 square feet of additional open space for construction. The Agreement of Sale contract provides the district 60 days to vet the property with a 2% deposit without closing.
“There’s advantages from an environmental sustainability standpoint, but you’re taking an office structure originally designed for adults and converting it into something especially designed for young children to spend a good portion of their day learning, and that’s a challenge,” Kantorczyk said.
The school board discussed the elementary school proposal at a special public informational meeting held at Conestoga on Jan. 17. During the meeting, the board presented a total project cost projection of $64.5 million and an expected annual operating cost of $8 million for the Swedesford location, with a plan to open the school in the fall of 2027.
Before considering the property at 1200 West Swedesford Road, the school board evaluated two district-owned properties at First Avenue and Jefferson Lane as potential sites for the new elementary school. Kantorczyk notes that the school board has not yet eliminated the possibility of either district-owned location and that an elementary school requires at least 15 acres and 80,000 square feet for construction.
“We weren’t going to limit ourselves to those two sites, (which) have their advantages and disadvantages, so we searched for sites that had potential for holding an elementary school,” Kantorczyk said. “We went through that process, identifying properties, and the only one that suited all of our parameters, and was potentially in the ballpark of the properties that the district owned, was the site at 1200 Swedesford.”
Although the spike in elementary enrollment is the primary reason behind constructing another elementary school, the school board has identified the increasing number of students receiving special education, English Language Development assistance, and math support as factors necessitating additional space. Additionally, the district is considering offering full-day kindergarten instead of half-day kindergarten, an initiative which would require additional classrooms.
Furthermore, the Pennsylvania Department of Education is requiring public schools to incorporate updated Science, Technology & Engineering, and Environmental Literacy & Sustainability standards into K-12 curricula by the 2025-26 school year. The new standards prioritize hands-on scientific experimentation, making spaces like science labs, which are currently repurposed in multiple elementary schools across the district, critical.
The school board maintains that, prior to initiating discussions of building another elementary school, the district monitored enrollment, maximized available space and explored redistricting options, keeping the construction of a new facility as a last resort. Katie Walters, social studies teacher and elementary school parent in the district, notes that some teachers feel the strain of limited rooms and believes the district administration maximizes space well.
“My first classroom here was a classroom converted (from) a storage closet and a teacher workspace because of the increasing enrollment in high school,” Walter said. “I think that they do what’s needed in order to benefit students as much as possible, and so sometimes that means losing storage and other areas because it’s better used to serve students.”
Beyond the additional space, another building would allow for shorter average bus routes, reduced school traffic and minimized future redistricting. The project would also prevent the division of Hillside Elementary School students between Valley Forge Middle School and T/E Middle school when students transition to middle school
Despite concerns about the project’s financing, public commenters at the Jan. 17 meeting unanimously echoed the school board’s support for the proposed Swedesford Road location and the implementation of full-day kindergarten. As a teacher and elementary school parent in the district, Walter expressed her support for both initiatives during the public comment period.
“I am in support of the decision to build a sixth elementary school,” Walter said. “Based on the information the district has laid out in their presentations, it’s clearly needed both because of the projected enrollment and because of the need for full-day kindergarten. I think of the three locations (Swedesford) is probably the best because it is the least congested and easily accessible.”
Shrija Krishnan can be reached at [email protected].
