Baldwin-Whitehall To Build New $48 Million Elementary School

BALDWIN, PA - The Baldwin-Whitehall School District plans to build a new $48 million, 48-classroom elementary school on the Paynter Elementary School property. The existing Paynter school then would be razed.

District officials say the move is necessary because the Paynter building is aging and the district's elementary school enrollment is expected to increase by nearly 400 students by 2022-23. Paynter currently serves more than 800 students.

“Considering all the costly unpredictabilities that often accompany a large-scale renovation, rebuilding Paynter as a new 48-classroom school is the option that made the most financial and logistical sense for everyone involved,” Baldwin-Whitehall School District Superintendent Randal A. Lutz said in a statement. “Not only will we be able to provide students with a new state-of-the-art facility that’s specifically designed to suit their growing needs, but this plan will also minimize any construction-related disruptions that could affect our students’ ability to learn.”

The current plan calls for preliminary designs and geotechnical investigations to be completed by January 2020, with reviews and approvals expected in May 2020. After bids, construction would begin in March 2021 and conclude in May 2023, with the existing Paynter building to be razed in summer 2023 and occupancy in the new Paynter building to begin in August 2023.

Baldwin-Whitehall has applied for a PlanCon school construction reimbursement from the Pennsylvania Department of Education. If approved, Lutz expects the PlanCon reimbursement will account for up to 20 percent of the project’s $40.3 million physical costs.