Mineola School District voters approved a proposition by a 3-1 margin to spend $3.8 million of the school district’s capital reserve fund for repairs to district schools in a special referendum on Tuesday.
Residents voted 363 in favor to 112 against to allow the school district to spend the capital reserve funds. Voters also approved a second proposition to establish a $15 million ceiling on the capital reserve fund by in 295 to 169 vote.
“We’re very happy,” said Mineola Superintendent of Schools Michael Nagler. “This is about safety. It will make the buildings safe for our children.”
In a presentation when the Mineola school board approved the referendum in September, Nagler said the major items requiring immediate attention are replacement of windows and doors and bricking pointing at all the schools, and installation of new unit ventilators to allow installation of air conditioning at the Jackson Avenue and Hampton Street Schools, and a new boiler at Mineola High School.
School board members also expressed satisfaction with the referendum’s results.
“I’m absolutely pleased the voters made a wise decision,” said school board Vice President Christine Napolitano.
“This is about what the people wanted,” said school board President Artie Barnett.
Barnett said he thinks residents in the district did not want the school board to create more debt by issuing a bond for the capital repairs on the schools.
Nagler said the school district would file plans for the repair work in the schools with the state Department of Education in January. He said he expected approval of those plans to take six months.
If plans are approved in that time frame, he said, the school board could seek bids from contractors and award a bid for the work, which could start during the summer. He said repairing the masonry on all seven school buildings – which he has said is in “horrible” condition – would be the first part of the project.
The school buildings include the former Cross Street School, which the school district is currently leasing to the Solomon Schechter Day School.
On building up the capital reserve to meet future contingencies, Nagler said he felt the district could meet the deadline for reaching the $15 million capital reserve ceiling from annual budget surpluses. The district capital reserve fund currently contains $5 million.
“We’re hopeful from now until 2019, we’ll have enough of a reserve to fund it,” Nagler said. “Proposition 2 is all about future planning.”
State education law requires that a finite term be established for school districts to fund capital reserve funds, according to Jack Waters, Mineola assistant superintendent for finance and operations.
Responding to a question on voter turnout for the referendum, Nagler said it was “typical” for the district. He said he thinks many district residents who did not vote supported the referendum and expected it would pass.
