Mt. Lebanon residents have been e-mailing their school board for months about a plan to renovate or build a new high school, though it is still in its earliest stages.
Board member Elaine L. Cappucci had to start a committee report during a meeting in the spring by dispelling rumors of a $100 million price tag. As the district prepares for its first community meeting on the project July 22, residents have said tension is building.
"People in Mt. Lebanon either want to not spend a lot of money on it, or want to spend a lot of money on it," said Monty Kimball, a district parent and 20-year resident. "There's nobody in between."
School building projects often divide communities in that way. Sometimes, they pit people tired of paying more taxes against parents pushing to spend for the best. Sometimes, they pit towns against schools. They can get emotional and fights can last years.
Things are just getting started in Mt. Lebanon, which has yet to put a price tag on its project. But around the region, school building plans have frayed nerves. There's a four-year stalemate in Moon, zoning battles in Bethel Park and North Hills, and a community that has talked about secession from McKeesport Area School District.
The Moon saga has created visible problems. School directors there often avoid eye contact during meetings and members of the public -- sometimes former board members -- shout insults from the crowd.
Much of this is a consequence of a community divided over how to renovate the high school and middle school on its main campus. Discussions started 10 years ago and groundbreaking is still at least months away. Residents and board members disagree on how much they should spend.
Board members approved an initial plan in 2004, but voters have since overturned the board majority twice. Each new board has thrown out the previous board's plans and costs have ballooned possibly to more than $100 million, according to estimates from the architects.
The construction rift in the school board eventually led to a fight over a new superintendent, former board President Mark E. Limbruner said. A Commonwealth Court judge eventually had to weigh in.
"That's how those kind of hot button issues can spill over into other areas," he said. "I'd say it just about placed the school district in the status of a war. It's a hot button issue. It's very emotional. And I'd advise any school board to hold an advisory referendum on school construction."
Bethel Park and North Hills school districts have both had their plans for renovations go to court because of zoning disputes with their townships. Bethel Park started its appeals process earlier this month, and the issues in North Hills have been brewing for years.
Bethel Park School District isn't even allowed to do major work on its own high school property without permission from municipal officials. The stipulation is part of a 15-year-old zoning law created to help the district sell some of its land for commercial development. Now it's appealing in court for an exception to build an $81 million project.
North Hills had a multiyear plan to consolidate its elementary schools, which involved closing some and expanding others. That upset some residents who didn't want to have their school closed, and it upset others leery of the school's plans for development.
Ross zoning officials eventually refused the district's request to do major earthwork it needed to expand Highcliff Elementary.
Emotions can run high in any situation that causes major change at a school, not just building projects, North Hills spokeswoman Tina Vojtko said.
"I think that parental concern just kicks right in, and you immediately become protective," she said. "(A school) becomes a community in and of itself. When that becomes uncertain that's not very comforting for families."
McKeesport directors are planning to pick sites in August for new elementary schools as part of their own consolidation. After they introduced in the spring the idea of razing three elementary schools, including White Oak's, some officials from the borough began openly criticizing the district, even suggesting a name change or the possibility that White Oak would try to leave.
White Oak Mayor Ina Jean Marton since has tried to soothe tensions and promote cooperation between district officials and some of the frustrated people in her borough, she said. Like change in many other districts, it's a sensitive situation in her hometown where she's lived her whole life and at the school from which she graduated.
"It shocked a lot of people that this was even happening," she said of the tension. "I want to make this district work. ... It can be very frustrating at times. You get a group of people together and, you know, I don't know what the answer is."
At least a few districts appear to have the answer. Baldwin-Whitehall is planning to finish its high school renovation this year. Some board members have complained about what they consider "overspending," but the project has moved forward without significant obstruction. The project is on schedule and within its $65 million budget, district officials said.
The district had several public meetings, including district officials, the project architect and even the police chief, to work with the community, high school Principal Todd E. Keruskin said. He complimented Upper St. Clair School District, which is using the same process and recently hired the same construction manager, P.J. Dick Corp., for the renovation of the district's middle schools.
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