New Elementary School Site Acquisition To Be Discussed Next Week

TREDYFFRIN-EASTTOWN, PA — With overcrowding an ongoing issue in the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District, officials are looking to add another potential elementary school to its slate of buildings.

And that discussion will continue on Wednesday, March 13 during a special meeting at 7:30 p.m. at Conestoga High School, 200 Irish Road in Berwyn.

The meeting will focus on a possible site, 1200 W. Swedesford Road in Berwyn, for a new elementary school.

At its Jan. 2 regular meeting, the school board authorized the district to enter into an Agreement of Sale for that property to the tune of $15.95 million. The agreement included a period of 60 days to conduct a full due diligence investigation of the property to confirm that it is usable as an elementary school.

At the upcoming meeting, officials will report on the status of the property acquisition and provide the public with an update on what has been learned so far during the due diligence period.

Superintendent Richard Gusick said the property, known as South Point 3, is compatible with an elementary school layout.

The building is 86,000 square feet, which meets the building size required for a school and has good access space.

“The layout would support conversion to an elementary school layout,” he said.

The district has been discussing the need for a new elementary school for several years due to increasing enrollment.

The public process began in the winter of 2020 with presentations on elementary school enrollment.

The district monitored enrollment and provided presentations to the public.

In September, the district began exploring commercial sites that had vacancies due to the work-at-home trend.

In October, the district hired Vista Realty Partners to search for potentially usable corporate properties. Vista identified 18 properties to review.

The district also evaluated two properties that the district owns on First Avenue in Berwyn and Jefferson Lane in Chesterbrook.

The Berwyn site, the superintendent said, does not have access to adequate parking and would require eliminating existing playing fields.

The Chesterbrook site, he said, is a good location, but has challenging topography and is used by four townhouse communities to enter their homes.

The superintendent said the district would like to have space for full-day kindergarten and science labs in all the schools.

Dr. Roberta Hotinski, board member, said the issue has been well-researched.

Dr. Yolanda Allen, board member, questioned if using the existing building would reduce the time for the construction.

Gusick said the construction time for renovating an existing building would likely be a few months shorter, depending on what is discovered.

Dr. Robert Singh, board member, said that he does not believe a better spot could be found for a school building.