As Abington Heights officials consider cost-effective options for the district’s administration building, they focus on other, more pressing facility projects.
At a meeting last month, Waverly Twp. resident Mark Stahller asked about the status of the administration building.
Superintendent Christopher Shaffer said it wouldn’t be fiscally responsible to convert it back into a school, pointing out there are “plenty of issues,” most mechanical.
Stahller noted a Times-Tribune article from March 2024 about the board approving an agreement with Scranton-based attorney Rocco Valvano to look at selling the building at 200 E. Grove St. in Clarks Summit. The article said a sale of the site could benefit the community and the district, as sale proceeds could be used to fund projects and offset debt, and the building could be put on the tax rolls. Stahller asked the board to consider the fate of the building.
Shaffer told Stahller there are other projects, such as the nearly $50 million middle school addition and a $1 million project planned at South Abington Elementary School, that take priority over the administration building. He said the contract with Valvano ensured the deeds for the property were in order, which they are.
“We are still in that place where we are exploring all of our options but we first have to figure out what’s doable with maintenance,” Shaffer said at the meeting. “Priorities switch but that doesn’t necessarily mean this isn’t a priority.”
The administration building was built in 1922 as a high school and later became Grove Street Elementary School. It was renovated in 2001 and has served as the district’s administration building since then. It houses offices for transportation, special education, technology, enrollment, the business manager, the school psychologist, enrollment, superintendent and assistant superintendent, and the district’s tax collectors. Around 20 people work in the building.
It also has a gym and locker space, and a meeting room where board meetings are held. In addition to the maintenance building, Comet Stadium, nicknamed The Pit, is on the property behind the administration building. The building and adjacent field are used by high school and community athletic teams.
Board President Warren Acker said at the meeting while a potential sale of the building could provide the district revenue for various projects, the board takes the tradition in The Pit seriously.
“It’s not a decision we take lightly,” he said.
Stahller pointed out from the facilities report presented at the board meeting earlier this month there were more than 550 use-of-facility requests, 32 of which were at the administration building, representing 5% of requests, according to a video livestream of the meeting viewed by The Times-Tribune.
Monday Update
THEN: The Abington Heights School Board approved an agreement with a Scranton-based attorney to explore selling the administration building in Clarks Summit.
NOW: District administrators are still exploring what to do with the building but are focused on more immediate facilities projects, including the addition being built at Abington Heights Middle School.