Downingtown board hears capital‑plan priorities, approves bond parameters up to $30 million

The Downingtown Area School District board on Feb. 11 received a presentation of the district's annual capital spending plan and voted to approve bond parameters the finance director said would allow issuance of up to $30 million in general‑obligation bonds.

Superintendent Dr. O'Donnell opened the presentation and turned the meeting over to Brian (presenter) and Mr. Harper, who outlined proposed 2026–27 capital allocations. Mr. Harper said the proposed allocation for that year is $3,500,000 and highlighted planned projects including window replacements, roof coating options, a districtwide building automation system replacement and replacement of aging snow‑removal trucks and loaders. He said grants being pursued could cover up to 75% of some window projects and that timeline pressures (production and installation lead times) could lead work to overlap into the school year.

Budget and technology details were a central part of the discussion. A school official noted that a prior board decision to transition high‑school freshmen to Chromebooks produced a roughly $1.2 million savings for the district. The presentation also listed about $1 million in deferred interactive‑board and projector work that staff had pushed out to reduce near‑term capital costs and identified about $315,000 in operational‑support funds for copiers, food‑service kitchen equipment and other recurring needs.

Board members questioned several items in the plan. On kitchen equipment, Mr. Harper said the high school is not on the federal school lunch program and therefore the new walk‑in freezer and double convection ovens at Downingtown West were included in capital rather than paid from federal food‑service funds. On window replacements, staff said grant applications are due in March with decisions expected before June and that some existing windows date to the 1980s and have leaking refrigerant systems that make replacement more cost‑effective than recurring repairs.

The board also discussed vehicle and equipment lifecycle choices. Mr. Harper said heavy equipment failures this winter underscored the need to replace key pieces rather than continue ad‑hoc rentals; he said one truck with plow costs roughly $80,000 and the district is evaluating leasing options for some items.

Finance director Director Wisdom presented the bond parameters resolution, which the board approved. Director Wisdom described the resolution as authorizing one or more series of general‑obligation bonds, including refunding older series and providing new‑money proceeds with an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $30,000,000. The motion passed on a voice vote.

Next steps: staff said the board will receive a first iteration of the full 2026–27 budget next month and will return to specific larger projects and debt structuring as separate agenda items.