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ONLINE EDITION
THURSDAY DECEMBER 18, 1997
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News School District B&G Committee Issues Bond Issue Report$70.7 Million in Repairs RecommendedBy Eric UsingerLast week, the Massapequa School District's Buildings and Grounds Steering Committee issued a report detailing $70.7 million dollars in construction and repair items for the district's school buildings.
Nearly 180 projects were identified by the committee to repair the district's ten school buildings, including Berner Junior High, Massapequa High School, Lockhart School, Fairfield School, Ames School, Hawthorne School, Unqua School, Birch Lane School, East Lake School, and McKenna School. The committee, comprised of administrators, consultants, and residents, identified 6 main areas that, they determined, need to be addressed; including electrical, heating, roofing, windows, site improvements, and general improvements. The largest category the committee chose was for general improvements, which amounted to 37 percent of the report's estimated $70.7 million total cost. Some of the projects identified in the category include new classroom ceilings, improved lighting, bathroom renovations, exterior door and hardware replacement, new elevators, and general office renovations. Two of the major influences behind the committee's final report included the district's legal obligation to comply with the federally legislated Americans with Disabilities Act and the board's decision to re-open the Ames school for the installation of a ninth grade campus. The Americans with Disabilities Act, signed by President George Bush in the early 1990s, determined that facilities in many public buildings needed to be made more accessible to people with handicapped conditions. For the Massapequa School District, this means installing new handrails, elevators, and possibly entrance ramps where none had previously existed before. Also, because of an increase in student enrollment in the district, a reversal of the trends of the past decade, the Ames building will be opened for the '98-99 school year. Currently the building is occupied by Nassau BOCES but, because of a clause in the contract with BOCES, the school district reserves the right to take back the building. However, according to Superintendent of Schools Brucia, the district has to give BOCES one year to do so. The reopening of the Ames building, for preliminary renovations, is expected by the district to total $4.1 million. According to School Board Secretary Mike DiDonato, a 5.25 percent increase in next year's operating budget would be needed to pay for the renovations to the building. The Bond Issue had originally been scheduled for a public vote in February. However, because of a change in the state's aid law, the district opted to wait until after July 1 for a vote so the district could receive an additional 10 percent in aid from the state. But, because the Ames building needs renovation before the time that the bonds would be issued, the Steering committee suggested that the district issue a mini-bond to finance the renovations over a longer period of time and then pay off the bond with the major bond act. John Iovino and Doug Brundage, both members of the Buildings and Grounds Steering Committee, said that the projects were listed in order of priority. The $70 million estimate that the committee generated, they said, was a total of the projects costs, rather than $70 million worth of projects that the committee would like to see initiated. School board trustee Christine Nottonson noted that when the actual bond act is issued, the district is not obligated to adhere to the projects listed. "Should we be fortunate and in the position that we can do more, then we can go further down the list," she said. According to figures released by the district, a $70 million bond issue would result in a 5.08 percent increase in the district's operating budget, based upon a 15 year bond issued at 5 percent interest. The estimated average Class 1 tax rate per $100 assessed valuation totaled $2.19, or $153.58 per household. School Board Vice-President C. Richard Sorvillo had his reservations about the size and cost of the yet to be determined bond issue. "The amount of taxes that we raise now could conceivably be close to eight percent and that's a lot of money." Sorvillo added, "I am in favor of doing something with the bond issue but I don't know if I am in support of this kind of amount." Sorvillo argued that a cost-benifet analysis should be done to assess the need for some of the projects. Committee member Donna Mason disagreed. "I don't think that a cost benefit analysis should be how we do this," she said. "If it's glaring or dim in the classroom, that's why we should do it." DiDonato, chairman of the Buildings and Grounds Committee, said the committee determined that the aesthetic quality of the buildings also needed to be addressed. "Sometimes we take for granted the buildings around us, and we ignore it," he said. DiDonato, who unveiled the committees report at a special planning session held on Dec. 9, said that the projects were chosen based upon their need, noting that the practice of choosing one school over the next was a "sub-optimal way of the past." "There were two philosophies at work. One, that no project was going to be weighted or assessed by its cost but by its need. Next, that each school was inherently equal to each other school," DiDonato explained. At the Tuesday evening meeting, Superintendent of Schools James Brucia displayed slides outlining a number of repairs needed in the district's buildings. Some included:
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