Knoch Middle School

JEFFERSON TWP — Knoch School District is seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant money to help with repairs in and around the intermediate elementary school.

Knoch’s school board approved application for a public school facility improvement grant through the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. The grant request amounts to $507,219. The district would have to provide a 25% match toward the project, roughly $169,000.

According to the district, funds from the grant would go toward roof coating, replacement of the roof’s insulation, a boiler replacement and completing outstanding sidewalk repairs around the building located on Knoch Road.

Superintendent Melissa Grantz said this is not the first time the district has applied for the grant.

“Because it was reopened, we are reapplying. We’ve had some additional roof leakage, and have added some things onto the application,” Grantz said. “We’ve been able to fix some sidewalks. We’ve done some electrical upgrades, minor things. But if we would get this grant we would be able to do a bigger project.”

The intermediate elementary school building was originally built and opened as Saxonburg Elementary in 1971. The district closed several other elementary schools in 2002 and reconfigured the building to accommodate the fourth- and fifth-grade students.

Facility upgrades have been a major focus of Knoch officials in recent years. The school district completed its high school renovation project in time for the 2025-26 school year at a price tag of $39 million.

“We’re always looking at parts of the district that you have to check out, things that need to be addressed. We still have projects in the high school that we need to work through, but definitely, the roof in the intermediate is a concern for us,” Grantz said.