Cheltenham SD facilities committee reviews stadium, roof, school additions and classroom moves

Leah Mulhern, chair of the Cheltenham School District facilities committee, led a meeting where district staff presented progress and cost information for multiple capital projects including the stadium, a high‑school roof replacement, planned additions at Glenside and Cedarbrook, and recent classroom moves.

District facilities presenter Mr. Carter opened the capital‑project briefing by noting the committee’s new monthly project report and showing photos of the stadium work. “On the left... the oval of the track... was excavated 3 feet down for stormwater management,” Carter said, and staff showed recent work on footers for the home‑side bleachers. Carter reported a 2025 budgeted amount of $12,075,000 for the stadium, a bid of $13,400,000, $1,400,000 paid to date and a remaining $10,600,000 to spend. He said the report separates hard construction costs (plumbing, HVAC, electrical, general contracting) from soft costs (architectural and engineering fees, permitting and construction management), and includes a contingency that the district hopes not to tap.

The committee discussed the potential for future change orders and contingencies. Committee member Dan Schultz asked whether the bid figure could change; Carter replied that no notable change orders had been executed and that any later changes would be reflected in the monthly spreadsheet. Schultz and other members also raised questions about how contingency funds would be drawn down.

Carter also described a partial roof replacement at the high school as completed. He reported an initial project figure of $1,500,000 and noted there had been “1 change order, 1 addition, 1 subtraction,” and said he would update the slides. Committee member Jennifer Loman asked that the slide note that the work was largely funded by the Pennsylvania School Improvement Grant; Carter confirmed the grant provided “approximately a million dollars for this part.” During the discussion a committee member asked whether the new roof had a reflective surface; Carter said the roof is white and “white does help, like, the heat.”

The meeting moved on to two school additions. For Glenside, Carter said SiteLogic estimated a total project budget of $7,600,000, with remaining costs around $7,300,000 and construction estimated at about $5,800,000; the district has paid KCBA for partial design work. He said the permitting application process has begun and that the district anticipates a likely October bid date. For Cedarbrook, Carter described a substantially larger project with a construction estimate of $18,300,000 and soft costs of about $3,800,000. He summarized remaining required cash outlay of roughly $22,000,000 to finish Cedarbrook and said that together Glenside and Cedarbrook total approximately $30,000,000; bond financing will be discussed by the finance committee.

Committee members asked procedural questions about bidding. Carter said prime trades must be bid separately by law (plumbing, electrical, mechanical and potentially fire protection) and that the plan was to bid Brooklandside (Glenside) and Cedarbrook together to seek economies of scale. He said KCBA and Chester Valley are handling civil engineering and that plan sets for each trade will be posted electronically for contractors to bid.

District staff described recent summer moves and classroom set‑up work. Mr. Hart thanked custodial and maintenance teams who moved furniture and prepared spaces, reporting new STEM/science furniture installed in several rooms and that older but still usable furniture will be redistributed across the district. Carter said the science tables had been paid for by “the plug space grant” and were selected to fit architectural plans for new STEM rooms.

On future projects, committee members asked about the high‑school HVAC work. Carter said Snyder Hoffman has provided a proposal and initial mechanical drawings but the project is still in early design stages; once drawings are complete the district will prepare cost estimates and move to bidding.

The committee also discussed vendor diversity in contracting. Committee member Mia Blitzstein noted district efforts to contract with women‑ and minority‑owned businesses and said she hopes bid lists will show diverse participation; Carter said staff had discussed district policies and would use available resources to expand vendor outreach.

The committee approved the August minutes by voice vote before the presentations and later adjourned; no other formal votes or project approvals were taken at the meeting.

The facilities staff said they will publish the new monthly project report going forward and will return to the committee with bid dates and locked numbers once procurement timelines are finalized.