Board to consider KCBA facilities study and higher facilities-director pay range amid debate over priorities

The Boyertown Area SD board discussed districtwide capital planning and a package of summer capital projects while weighing a proposed rewrite of the facilities director job description and a higher salary range intended to help recruit a director for a multi-building district.

Administration recommended hiring KCBA architects to complete a comprehensive 10-year capital plan and condition assessment, presenting a contract figure of roughly $18,000 and an expected three- to four-month timeline for building evaluations and ranked recommendations for facility, security and ADA needs. Separately, the administration asked the board to approve awards and pricing for a collection of capital projects: paving at several sites ($22,000), a full tennis-court replacement at Middle School East ($269,142), exit-door and steel-mullion replacement at BASH ($136,495), stage-curtain replacements at two sites, and a pending procurement to add rapid visual-obscuring window covers for classroom sidelights and doors to support lockdown procedures.

Mr. Lent presented a Johnson Controls service agreement for building automation, chiller and tower preventative maintenance with an annual cost shown as $93,659. Administration described an insurance-renewal outcome that raised the property coverage limit by $79 million and expanded cyber and environmental limits to $1 million each while producing a net 1.2% premium reduction.

Administrators also presented a revised facilities director job description and an Act 93 compensation addendum with a market salary range the administration described as in the $130,000–$150,000 band. Administration said the change was based on a regional market analysis and intended to improve recruitment and retainment for a district of the school system’s scale.

Board reaction was split. Several trustees said recruiting at market pay is necessary to find experienced facilities leadership for a district with many buildings and complex capital needs. Other trustees argued the district should prioritize instructional programs and campus-level interventions and pressed for clearer five-year fiscal projections before widening salary ranges, citing past difficult trade-offs such as building closures and staff reductions. Administration said the job description and Act 93 amendment would be placed on the next legislative meeting agenda for formal consideration.