THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN. Members in the North Penn School District voted “NO” for a Reimagined North Penn High School on the January 16th special election.

As of January 17th, North Penn School District voters have voted NO to the ballot question, which would have authorized a tax raise in favor of a Reimagined North Penn High School.

This means ninth grade stays at the middle schools, no renovations for athletic facilities, nor expansion of building size. However, the high school will still repair HVAC systems school-wide and ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessibility. 

Option 1, which required a yes vote would have seen ninth graders coming to join the high school and various cosmetic changes and improvements such as more natural lighting, expanded departments, bigger hallways, a commons area, improved athletic facilities, and a plethora of other factors that would’ve trickled down to help the community and reduced cost of middle school(s) renovations in the future. 

However, the voters have established that the North Penn community should continue with option 2. 

Option 2, costing $236M entails reparation of essential building parts such as HVAC systems, plumbing, and electrical systems. Option 2 also will see improved ADA accessibility throughout the entire high school, via a flat-floored and more spacious band room as well as updating the two elevators at the high school.

“The day after the special election, we had our first meeting with our entire team, our architects and construction management teams are working as we speak to update some of the numbers for the “NO” vote option to determine what the budget will allow for this option,” Mr. Pete Nicholson stated (Administrator of Secondary Education and Renovations).

If everything goes according to plan, construction projects for these renovations will start sometime by mid-2025. The start time for construction is not confirmed just yet until the architect and construction teams finalize all the necessary numbers.

However, a process this big is no sprint, rather it is a marathon.

“We should have information available to share with the public in a month or two. We said we would start the work, either way, as soon as the special election occurred and, as I said, we had our first meeting the very next day,” Nicholson stated. “It will take some time to have information that’s worth sharing, but we’re working behind the scenes now to get to that point as quickly as possible.”

With that being said, look forward to an update from The Knight Crier within the next few months, clarifying and sharing more concise information on costs, time estimates, and other components of option 2 moving forward.