The Roslyn School District’s Board of Education on Thursday began discussions on how to prioritize the infrastructure enhancements projects included in the district’s proposed $34.6 million capital improvement plan.
The board discussed a worksheet compiled by Superintendent of Schools Dan Brenner and Erik Kaeyer, the vice president and design principal of KG&D Architects who last month introduced his company’s overview of possible upgrades. The worksheet separated the projects by building and placed each proposed line item into one of three categories of declining priority.
“We were having a discussion around do you start with a number and build projects into the number, or do you start with what projects you need and build the number?” Brenner said. “That is really where the board left off at our last meeting and we said, let us give you the projects with the number and you now make that decision as to how you want to pursue the conversation.”
Brenner added the prioritization of line items was not final, as the discussion was meant to gauge the board’s opinions on the importance of projects as trustees approach a bond referendum proposal by December for a district-wide vote in May.
Projects placed into the category marked “Priority 1” were those that would lead to health and safety issues if not immediately addressed, Brenner said. Included in this category were site work to each of the district’s seven schools, upgrades to fire alarms, lighting and clocks, window replacement and a new $3.8 million garage to house the district’s buses.
Projects placed into the category marked “Priority 2” were those that were of importance, but did not present an immediate need, Brenner said. Included in this category were corridor and locker room renovations as well as security enhancements.
Projects placed into the category marked “Priority 3” were mainly those that would specifically benefit education, Brenner said, but would not present a health and safety risk or harm the district’s curriculum if left undone. Included in this category were a new $2.3 million media center and renovated photography and greenhouse labs at Roslyn High School, new media centers at East Hills School and Heights School and a $5.2 million gym addition at Harbor Hill School.
The opposite side of the worksheet detailed infrastructure improvements, prioritizing line items into three categories as it had its other projects.
Items listed in the “Priority 1” category included updates to fire alarm systems, emergency exits, smoke detectors and miscellaneous masonry to doors, glass, sinks and tiling, as needed. “Priority 2” and “Priority 3” infrastructure items included upgrades to various electrical systems, fans and plumbing units.
“We needed this for the board to be able to say whether you want to build around a number or build around projects which will get you to a number,” Brenner said. “That is really where we’re at.”
Trustee Adam Haber asked Kaeyer why certain infrastructure projects were prioritized differently at one school as opposed to another, but Kaeyer said the projects were prioritized based on the condition of each item at each school, rather than gauged collectively.
Board Vice President Clifford Saffron, who acknowledged he was one of the louder voices in previous meetings calling for a prioritization of the different line items, questioned why the site work and entrance improvements were split into two categories and given different priority levels, saying he sees a correlation between the benefits to doing the two kinds of projects together.
He also questioned why items like the new high school media center and renovated photo and greenhouse labs were marked as “Priority 3,” even within the context of Brenner’s description as projects that were not necessary to maintaining the health and safety of students and faculty.
“What I see here are revisions and suggestions to the existing,” Saffron said. “We had a discussion around what more, as a board, that we should be doing to improve the quality of education for our kids. There was a discussion around a robotics facility, a television station, and I think there’s so much to be done to that building, and for us to think about what more could be done to that building as we go through this.”
Trustee David Dubner also questioned how he should consider the importance of new media centers, which would further the quality of education, against improved security and renovated structural entrances to district buildings.
Even Brenner said some of the items listed as “Priority 2” may not be of tremendous importance now but will be within the next 10 years, and that the board may decide to flip some of the “Priority 2” and “Priority 3” line items in future discussions.
But one of the items not listed on either side of the sheet were improvements to the district’s air conditioning system at each of the seven schools, which was not included in the initial proposal, trustees said.
After the board’s Sept. 12 meeting, Brenner said, he spoke with members of the district’s Parent Faculty Association about which district upgrades they think are most important and was told the “No. 1 thing that is spoken about is air conditioning, and I would be misrepresenting my conversations if I didn’t bring that up.”
Brenner said air conditioning was purposely overlooked by KG&D architects in creating the district’s capital plan. He added that based on recent conversations he’s had with Roslyn residents, large-room areas like cafeterias, libraries and auditoriums should be air-conditioned so teachers and students would have a place to cool down on exceptionally hot days.
Currently, the cafeterias at Roslyn High School, Roslyn Middle School and Heights School have air conditioning, but not East Hills or Harbor Hill, Brenner said.
Trustee Bruce Valauri said the heat at Harbor Hill’s recent Open House was “oppressive,” and said fans in the classrooms do little to move the air.
Though he said putting air conditioning in every school building throughout the district would not be feasible, Valauri said he’d like KG&D to assess possible options to cool
“I can only imagine the students and teachers that have had to live in those rooms during the daylight hours,” Valauri said. “And I’m not talking about July, I’m talking about the last couple of weeks.
Trustee Bruce Valauri said the heat at Harbor Hill’s recent Open House was “oppressive,” and said fans in the classrooms do little to move the air.
Though he said putting air conditioning in every school building throughout the district would not be feasible, Valauri said he’d like KG&D to assess possible cooling options.
“I can only imagine the students and teachers that have had to live in those rooms during the daylight hours,” Valauri said. “And I’m not talking about July, I’m talking about the last couple of weeks.
Board President Meryl Waxman Ben-Levy said that on exceptionally hot days, Harbor Hill faculty move students around the building as much as possible in an effort to share the spaces that do have air conditioning.
But the second floor of the buildings can be “unbearable,” she said, with little cross-ventilation between classrooms.
“It’s very clear in my mind that this is a big issue for the community and to put this out [for a bond referendum vote], so we have to listen to what the community is saying,” Brenner said.
The board agreed it will need additional public meetings to discuss potential capital improvement priorities, setting a tentative meeting for Oct. 24 at 7 p.m.
The board next meets Oct. 17, with regularly-scheduled meetings Nov. 7 and 21 and Dec. 5 and 19 to close out 2013.
