The new middle school will allow the district to accommodate the students in one building in Buena rather than the two sending schools they currently attend – Donini Elementary School in Landisville and Edgarton Elementary School in Newfield.

The 92,000-square-foot, one-story Buena Regional Middle School will include 22 classrooms, three special education rooms, two science labs, a library/media center, a cafeteria, a gymnasium, an auxiliary gymnasium and an auditorium.

Construction is expected to get under way this summer. The building is scheduled to open to students in January 2010.

The construction contract, awarded to Ogren on April 23, was announced at the SDA meeting May 6. The project is designed by Manders/Merighi Associates, and URS Corporation Group is the project management firm.

The SDA is fully managing the project and funding approximately two-thirds of the construction cost, with the Buena Regional School District funding the balance. If a project was approved prior to the Authority’s August 2007 establishment and is in a district receiving 55 percent or more of its budget through state aid, the SDA provides management and partial funding. Under the legislation establishing the SDA, newly proposed projects in such districts are managed and funded locally.

Overall, the Authority has completed 41 schools, 37 major renovations and additions, and nearly 400 health, safety and other projects in SDA Districts (formerly classified as Abbott Districts). In addition, it has completed four schools and nine major renovations and additions in Regular Operating Districts (RODs).

The Authority has 26 active projects in SDA Districts and nine in RODs.