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South Fayette board approves feasibility study

2 min read
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In the 11 months or so since the 2017-18 school year ended, South Fayette School District has added 180 students. That means if you have 25 students per classroom, this would add up to seven new classrooms of students across the district.

Faced with projections of continued growing enrollment, South Fayette School Board last week approved a contract with the Hayes Design Group to conduct a districtwide feasibility study.

It will cost $65,000 and take about six months to complete, “but may go a little longer,” according to Superintendent Kenneth Lockette. It will be a comprehensive process, he said, and include input “from multiple stakeholders,” and assess the district’s current facilities.

District officials have been pondering a feasibility study since at least the beginning of this academic year. The district’s growth has been such that, even in a high school that was renovated in 2017, teachers could eventually need to share classrooms.

Pittsburgh-based Hayes Design Group has designed new buildings or devised renovation plans for a number of districts throughout the region. The organization’s credits include work on Bethel Park High School, the junior/senior high school in the Carmichaels district, West Greene Elementary Center and Peters Township High School.

Lockette said he anticipates “challenges” over the next couple of years when it comes to space in the district’s elementary, intermediate and middle school buildings.

As of last week, there were 3,411 students enrolled in South Fayette School District. Its enrollment has increased by one-third over the last decade. On top of the 180 students that have been added in the last year, 130 students were added the year before, Lockette said.

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