Coatesville committee moves Act 34 notice for new North Brandywine Middle School; sets maximum project and building costs

The Coatesville Area School District operations committee recommended Jan. 13 that the board publish an Act 34 public‑hearing notice and adopt a resolution establishing maximum costs for a proposed new North Brandywine Middle School. The committee vote forwarded the advertisement and resolution to the full board for action at the January board meeting.

The presentation by David Schrader of Schrader Group outlined the Act 34 process and timetable: the committee reviewed the Act 34 packet and will ask the board to approve an advertisement on Jan. 27 so the required 20‑day notice can run by Feb. 3. “That number that you see of 96,000,000 is not the construction cost that we anticipate,” Schrader said, explaining the $96,202,044 figure in the packet is a maximum project cost used for the Act 34 resolution; the presentation noted a separate maximum building construction cost of $57,522,490.

The consultants said the district expects to hold the Act 34 hearing in late February and leave it open for 30 days of written comment. If approvals proceed on the schedule shown, the project team plans to solicit bids in March and expect bid returns in April or May. The presentation covered related work across the district, including the integration of the existing addition to North Brandywine as part of the overall building plan.

Staff provided related budget context for other ongoing projects. For Doe Run Elementary, staff said the all‑in budget is $83,000,000 (including soft costs), with approximately $54,000,000 awarded to date and about $12,000,000 remaining for additional awards. Off‑site utilities for the Doe Run project — domestic water and sewer extensions and a pump station on township property — were budgeted at roughly $5–7 million and are planned to be awarded in the coming months.

The committee’s action at this meeting was procedural: it recommended approving the public‑hearing notice and the Act 34 resolution so the district can meet statutory timeline requirements. Final construction authorization and contract awards would occur only after subsequent approvals and, where applicable, a separate bidding process.

The operations committee moved the Act 34 advertisement and resolution to the full board by voice vote. The board will consider the advertisement and resolution on its next agenda; statute requires the district to publish the Act 34 notice at least 20 days before a public hearing.