Karns City

FAIRVIEW TWP — The Karns City Area School District recently closed on its purchase of property to extend the rear entrance of the high school campus.

The property, at 1432 Kittanning Pike, was owned by Stanley Gruver and his wife, Gloria, and adjoins the district’s property.

The end goal for the property, which includes a house and separate, two-stall garage, is to demolish the buildings and expand the rear entrance when — eventually — the high school is renovated, superintendent Eric Ritzert told the board at its meeting Monday night, July 17.

“Ideally, we would want to look at renovation of the high school within the next five years, if not sooner,” Ritzert said.

He added the current entrance is elevated at an angle where it meets Kittanning Pike, and the reconfiguration would improve safety for students and staff.

While the board has not yet decided what to do with the property in the meantime, Ritzert has been approached about a possible rental tenant until the time when the district is ready to make changes to the high school.

The board also heard an update on the Chicora Elementary expansion project from John Pappas of Eckles Construction Services, a construction management firm hired by the district to interface with all of the contractors on the project.

Though everything is progressing as planned overall, Ritzert said there still are some concerns over recess for the students throughout construction.

“We thought it was important to try to secure a dedicated space where there’s some grassy area where kids could play, albeit fenced in,” Ritzert said.

Although nothing is set in stone yet, Ritzert encouraged people who have concerns to let the district know so they can work to improve it.

“We take the safety aspect extremely serious,” Ritzert said.