VII. Public Facilities
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VII. Public Facilities A. Schools A high quality education is a widely-held objective for most of our society. Historically, school districts have forecast short-term future demands for school facilities, enabling them to program additional building expansion, construction, consolidations, and closures to meet forecasted demands. School district planning can have a direct effect on, as well as be affected by, the land use activities within an area. For instance, new or expanded schools may generate increased nearby residential development, and school closures may contribute to the de-population of communities. At the same time, long-range municipal land use planning may designate new growth areas at some distance from existing or planned school facilities. All of these issues underlie the importance of coordinating school district and municipal comprehensive planning processes to assure that existing and future schools and planned community growth occur hand-in-hand. Conewago Township is served by the Conewago Valley School District. The Conewago Valley serves all Conewago, Oxford, Berwick, and Hamilton Townships, portions of Mount Pleasant, Straban and Tyrone Townships, all of McSherrystown, New Oxford, and Abbottstown Boroughs and a portion of Bonneauville Borough. The District is governed by a nine-member School Board. CONEWAGO TWP. Each Board member serves a 4-year term. The following is the District’s contact information: Conewago Valley School District 130 Berlin Road New Oxford, PA 17350 Telephone (717) 624-2157 Fax (717) 624-5020 Website - http://www.conewago.k12.pa.us/ Presently, the School District employs the following grade format: Public School Grade Format Elementary School K-3 Intermediate 4-6 Middle School 7-8 High School 9-12 Conewago Township Comprehensive Plan 63 Chapter VII – Public Facilities O X F C O BS A JACO R R L I D S L M E ) O . TO O U B WN N L SKYVIEW SH C A IP T C H K K E H P R M I L L G O H O E C A K Y ( E S D H GE T C A G IR P R U B E I N OV ON PL E A A MA H T E K P Township Office S A ñO T IC X DIO IL F RA N W Ý L AS O E B R W P P D A O . H C T C N Y H N L U Conewago E D R N C P E H N I IG THO Twp. KEINlDem R NA H H ConewagF o JO School GE 0 A G E D N Chapel NT C RI TH McSheOrrysE towEnN R A G C O O A N ID L R EW VI V N IN ELM N O å F Picnic CO RT D V C PlaySgrPouH nd E E I E N E MAPL E E I N E N I C R L T R O D Grove E B D R N O N BENN L N D O IA THIRD B K M L A Neiderer's Pool O O O E SOUTH A T D Y R B McSHERRYSTOWN R Delone I A S O R Y S# O ILLER D BOROUGH N D L R U N CE atholic N E A k H O E Y T R HanoverG Park S A S S T Station 1 N A L N K R O A L L U K CheetC Pah Park H A P E Station 2 A O N C D E H O F N P D E F C E S ( E N A A D E E Y ST R I T O Y k J W N O T L R F O H F A E BrAushAtNown A OV H B B T ER T PUMA R S LE IL E AmericaTnN F k X M E K R Athletic Proposed Station N A R LY R CO Legion C U Assoc. O L S G O A A A Potential R S Ballfield . L V ) A L O L W IR Community A O M AllwOood I T D Park O R U ManS or E T N N T O E IO Park S T IN S K O N H IC D Y B P R M E E D O U N N T N P L E T A S O A N T W N R S E H V O I N P A H ( T Y O R O W A C R E N K S H O H C I R South Hills P S O E . Golf Course ) NA RR Public Facilities OW ñ Township Office å School k Fire Station S# Post Office 2000 0 2000 4000 Feet Ý Conewago Chapel Township Park Conewago Township Other Park N Adams County, PA Potential Linear Park W E S The following tabulates conditions at each of the School District’s five school sites: Summary of Northern Adams County School District Facilities Year Renovation Rated Grades Rated 2007-08 School Name Built Dates Condition Housed Capacity Enrollment Conewago Twp. Elementary 1958 2004 Good K-3 600 550 New Oxford Elementary 1954 2004 Good K-3 NA 586 Conewago Valley Intermediate 2005 NA New 4-6 NA 877 New Oxford Middle School 1976 1995/2004 Good 7-8 NA 618 New Oxford High School 1960 1995/2004 Good 9-12 NA 1,251 Source: School District Although the Conewago Township Elementary School is the only of the District’s elementary schools located within Conewago Township, some elementary-aged students within the Township are bused to the McSherrystown Conewago Township Elementary School Elementary School as well. All of the District’s elementary schools are rated as in “good” condition by District Officials. However, District Officials indicate that limited growth can be absorbed and that renovations may be necessary to accommodate growth over the next 7 to 10 years. The Conewago Valley Intermediate School is located at 175 700 Road in the Borough of New Oxford. This school is the newest within the District and serves grades 4 through 6 District-wide. Conewago Valley Intermediate School The New Oxford Middle and the New Oxford High Schools are both located at 130 Berlin Road in the Borough of New Oxford. Both of these schools are described in “good” condition by District Officials. However, a new middle school may be needed if community growth continues. In addition to the “typical” primary and secondary educational offerings, the District offers vocational programs to about 40 high school students at off-campus locations each year. Conewago Township Comprehensive Plan 64 Chapter VII – Public Facilities New Oxford Middle School & New Oxford High School The District produces a long range plan every five years with the next update to be undertaken in 2008. The population projections provided in Chapter 4 suggest that Conewago Township will add about 115 new residents each year through year 2020. Assuming the same age profile recorded Township-wide in the last Federal Census, the following presents the number of new students could be expected at each school level: Projected School-Aged Students from Conewago Township School Level (Grades) New Students per Year New Students 2007-2020 Elementary School (K-3) 7 85 Intermediate School (4-6) 6 78 Middle School (7-8) 4 52 High School (9-12) 7 85 Because, the initiation of school expansion is a major project that often takes years to undertake, it is recommended that the School District closely monitor growth within the District so as to proactively plan for facility expansion well in advance of actual demand for space. The School District could benefit from an improved process of residential development review. By learning of proposed developments early, the District can better prepare for needed school expansion and bus routing. Conewago Township should revise its subdivision and land development application require- ments so that adequate and timely notification to the School District is assured. Similarly, the School District should allocate manpower and resources so as to properly respond to such applications and provide meaningful feedback to the muni- cipalities. Finally, the District offers access to its recreation facilities to many organizations and community groups, particularly those involved in outdoor athletics. (School District parks and other recreation facilities are inventoried within the next Section) District officials believe that the offering of more opportunities for adults and non-team sports (e.g. skate parks) would improve recreation service within the Township and throughout the District. Township Officials should fully understand residents’ dependence on School District facilities and look for opportunities to cooperate with the District in the delivery of this service and maintenance of its facilities. More on this subject follows in the next Section of this Chapter. Conewago Township Comprehensive Plan 65 Chapter VII – Public Facilities B. Parks and Recreation The planning for both passive and active recreation opportunities is an important component of any comprehensive planning effort. Recreation planning seeks to determine the level of demand for recreation facilities and programs, and suitable locations for parks. Finally, certain widely-used procedures for the acquisition of parklands via dedication/fee- in-lieu thereof subdivision requirements are only legally defensible if they seek to implement legitimate and logical recreation goals and objectives. One of the planning goals of this Plan that specifically relates to recreation states: Provide one large, centrally located, neighborhood park to address the recreational needs of township residents. In February, 2007, the Township adopted the Conewago Township Parkland Assessment report. The content of this report is hereby expressly incorporated within this Comprehensive Plan and will serve as the Township’s Official policy with regard to parks and recreation.