Much of the discussion at Tuesday night's Plainedge School Board Special Session centered around a bond referendum which would be focused mainly on Packard Middle School and whether it should be renovated or rebuilt.

Packard was first brought up when the demographic study of the district was discussed. At that time the board was spoken to about hiring a private firm to do an enrollment and facility utilization analysis for the district. Superintendent of Schools John Richman explained that all the buildings would be looked at and that analysis would help the district determine what projects would be necessary, districtwide, if a bond referendum was done.

Although Packard is the major focus of the bond investigation, Richman estimates an extra $10 million would be needed to renovate other buildings and bring them up to meet the technological needs of today.

Packard, explained Richman, while safe, is in critical need of either renovation or rebuilding. "It's a very interesting phenomenon, because it's our newest building," noted Richman. "It's well maintained and while it is structurally safe, the nature of the construction is very problematic in terms of renovation both by design and by construction." One example of work that needs to be done but may compromise the structure is replacing the single pane windows, that leak, with thermal windows. The district's architect has suggested that because the building was constructed in the mid 60s out of concrete rather than steel, it may not be able to support the insertion of the thermal windows. This is just one example of the problems facing Packard.

The question remains for the district to consider, if they do a bond referendum, if it will be to renovate or rebuild the entire structure. Other projects that Richman suggested are necessary are: updating the libraries in the elementary schools, which he currently terms as being "inadequate"; additional classroom space in all of the buildings; new science labs for the high school; and a new library for the high school.

After speaking to architects and bond councils about this project, Richman has developed some rough estimates of the cost of this project. He prefaced these figures by saying, "Everyone should be aware of the figures we are talking about. I don't want it to be a surprise or shock to anybody." The estimate that the superintendent has come up with is $50 million. This, he stresses is a very rough estimate. He explained that if Packard were to be renovated it would cost in the neighborhood of $25 million but because the stability of the structure is in question this cost could increase once the work began. The district took the information about the renovations to the state education department with the architect and, according to Richman, they were very emphatic that it would not be a good investment of funds to renovate that building. Their recommendation, based on the information the architect gave them, was to build an entirely new school. If the entire building were to be rebuilt, Richman said the cost would be in the neighborhood of $40 million. He said that currently he is anticipating that the work on the other buildings will cost approximately $10 million.

The main reason that the bond is being considered at this point, according to Richman, is because the state incentive is suspected to be 10 percent higher, if the referendum is passed, than it will be if it is not passed prior to July 1. Richman explained that right now the state aid is over $.65 per dollar for approved space. He noted that this formula can be confusing though because while classrooms are approved space, hallways are not and although the state mandates guidance counselors, offices for guidance counselors are not approved space. The district will be having experts look at this information and come up with plans on how to best utilize the state aid money if a bond issue is approved. "It would not be fair to the community if we did not look at this, given the additional aid," said Richman.

Taking the approximate figures into consideration and looking at state aid formulas, Richman estimates that the cost to the average homeowner, with a house assessed at $6,000, would be approximately $318 a year.

Plainedge Public Schools will be holding a Board/Community Dialogue on Oct. 18 at 7:30 p.m. at Packard to discuss the future of the middle school. The dialogue will include: a tour of the building, discussion of educational needs of today's students, discussion of physical condition of the building, space considerations, discussion on whether to rebuild or renovate, and the timing of a bond referendum. This meeting will be open to the entire community and all are welcome to attend. A time for questions and answers will also be included in the meeting. The board states, "We look forward to your suggestions, assistance and support as we plan to make these important decisions for the future of our students and our community."