School for students with special needs at risk of closing, 5 districts vote against providing funds

MIDLAND, Pa. — Crews are busy working to remove asbestos from the New Horizon School in Beaver County, a school for students with special needs. They found the asbestos after finding mold throughout the entire building this summer. Now the school needs a major renovation. If that renovation doesn’t happen, the school tells me the program could be in jeopardy.

Brittany Modany is a paraprofessional at New Horizon. She works with students with special needs every day.

Her two kids are also students at the school.

This year, they are in a temporary location in Midland. She said it’s been tough on everyone.

“My daughter’s been coming to New Horizon for 10 years. I’ve never seen the types of behaviors in her that I’ve seen we’ve gotten into this building,” she told Channel 11’s Andrew Havranek.

The school worked quickly this summer to find a new home because of the mold found at their normal location.

“We had one week to figure out a solution and also to move everything,” said New Horizon School Assistant Supervisor Kristi Leiper.

There are about 170 students at New Horizon. The current building they’re in is a third of the size of the regular school. Classrooms are divided with partitions and file cabinets. Food is prepared at Midland school and brought over to New Horizon.

“We lack a cafeteria space, a gymnasium, playgrounds, behavior rooms, different things that make it possible for our students to succeed and have outlets,” Leiper said.

Modany said the students are always asking one question — when can we go home?

“We can’t wait to go home, and I don’t have the heart to tell them we might not be going back there,” Modany said.

To go back to their regular home, New Horizon needs millions of dollars. Due to the mold, it’s expected to cost roughly $15 million to take out the drywall and ceiling in the school and have it replaced.

“Our intent is to keep driving that number down,” said Melissa Niedbala, Director of Special Education at the Beaver Valley Intermediate Unit.

This week, the school asked the county schools to approve their share of funding to help. It failed.

Five school districts — Ambridge, Aliquippa, Freedom, Hopewell, and Southside Area voted against it.

Channel 11’s Andrew Havranek emailed those districts’ superintendents. Southiside Area Superintendent Alan Fritz sent the following statement.

“South Side Area School District deeply values the vital work New Horizon provides for some of our region’s most vulnerable children. We recognize the importance of Horizon’s mission and fully understand that the proposed renovations and repairs are necessary to ensure the continued success of the program.

While several other districts voted no to the BVIU’s proposal, our Board’s “no” vote should not be interpreted as a lack of support for New Horizon or the students it serves. Rather, our concern lies with the process undertaken by the Beaver Valley Intermediate Unit in moving this construction project forward. As a public school district, we are obligated to follow the procedures outlined in the Pennsylvania School Code for construction projects. These procedures exist to protect the integrity of public decision-making and ensure proper oversight.

As stewards of taxpayer dollars, we have a responsibility to insist on transparency, a clear segregation of duties, and an open bid process so that the community can be confident it is receiving the best value at the best price. Until we can be assured that the appropriate process is being followed, we are not comfortable approving the project as presented.

We remain committed to supporting New Horizon and look forward to working collaboratively toward a solution that upholds both the needs of the program and the standards of accountability our taxpayers expect. We are hopeful that the BVIU administration will provide all member districts with a solution that meets these expectations."

Now, New Horizon School is asking the Intermediate Unit board next Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. to approve an emergency loan. SiteLogiq, the engineering company, said time is of the essence, so they can get materials and start work for the building to be open by next school year.

If that vote fails on Wednesday, the school’s future is uncertain.

“I’m worried about my kids,” Modany said. “I’m worried about my own kids. I’m worried about my job. I’m terrified I’m going to lose my job. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

SiteLogic released the following statement on the project.

“There have been some misconceptions about using the Guaranteed Energy Savings Act (GESA) procurement method to address the issues found at the New Horizons building. In 2016, Pennsylvania passed legislation to modernize procurement by amending the GESA process to include using the “(a)voided current or planned capital expense” and “(a)voided renovation, renewal or repair costs as a result of replacing old and unreliable equipment and systems or thermal improvements to the building envelope.” The laws pertaining to this widely utilized procurement method for Pennsylvania public schools and public entities can be found under 62 Pa.C.S. §§ 3751 — 3758.

The law permits 19 different energy conservation measures project categories including “(1) insulation of the building structure or systems within the building”, “(4) heating, ventilating or air conditioning system modifications, extension of systems to new or renovated areas or system replacements”, “(13) systems that provide indoor air quality improvements or improved climate control”, and “(19) other energy, water or wastewater measures as may provide measurable, long-term operating costs reductions or billable revenue increases.” A GESA project can also include improvements not causally connected to energy conservation methods if the value of the improvement does not exceed 15% of the value of the total GESA project.

With respect to the New Horizons’ project, SitelogIQ was properly hired by the Beaver Valley IU as their Energy Services Contractor (ESCO) after responding to a publicly advertised Request for Qualifications to perform an assessment of all of the IU’s buildings and then develop scopes of work to address deferred maintenance as per 62 Pa.C.S. §§ 3753. Finding this scale of mold and asbestos in the New Horizons’ building was not foreseeable. However, now that the scope of the problem is known, failing to address it and the root causes of these issues would be environmentally hazardous and fiscally irresponsible for the health and safety of the students and staff.

The biggest benefits of using this procurement method to the Beaver Valley IU includes the speed in which a project can be developed and procured. The GESA method is much faster than the four-prime contracting design-bid-build methodology. This is key for the Beaver Valley IU because we are currently renting another facility at a cost of $50,000 per month. That’s $500,000 in expenses not budgeted for this year. When you consider the additional time and steps needed to follow the design-bid-build methodology, this will add several months to the project duration. The consolidation of the project schedule will save the IU on project costs and unplanned real estate costs. Time is something we cannot afford to waste. An additional benefit of moving forward this way is the contract is guaranteed. Meaning once a contract is agreed to, the price of the project cannot change. The GESA process does not allow for change orders. This provides the IU and its member school districts certainty as to the cost of the project from the very beginning. This helps school leaders more effectively plan for the full cost of a project and stay within a budget."

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