Great Neck school board seeks to add eight classrooms

Robert Pelaez
Roof renovations at South High (Photo courtesy of Great Neck Public School District)

With enrollment rising, the Great Neck school district will seek to add eight classrooms to the E.M. Baker and Lakeville elementary schools, Board of Education President Barbara Berkowitz said at a meeting Monday.

The renovations come at a time when 276 new students have entered the school district, with 77 between the E.M. Baker and Lakeville elementary schools. With the addition of students to the district, the board presented a resolution to authorize the next series of capital projects.

“The plan is to add classrooms to both Lakeville and Baker,” Berkowitz said. “We will be conducting a full presentation of the layout and of all the plans at our next meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 15.”

According to the resolution, the work at E.M. Baker includes construction of a two-story
classroom wing addition and reconfiguration of classrooms, parking and
basement to accommodate six new classrooms, and redesign of the bus
loop and parent drop-off area.

At Lakeville, the plans call for an addition to the east wing to accommodate two new classrooms.

The cost at the two schools would be $9,749,469, including demolition, furnishings, equipment and other items.

The proposition on capital spending will be submitted to residents for a vote on Dec. 3.

“The important thing to know,” Berkowitz said, “besides the fact that there is a real need for these projects, is that the money for it will be appropriated from the district’s unassigned funds balance and that there’s no additional cost to be occurred by our tax-paying public.”

The district’s maintenance staff spent the summer making renovations before the start of the new school year, school officials said.  

“What most people don’t realize is the amount of work our maintenance team goes through over the summer,” said School Superintendent Teresa Prendergast.

She made a Powerpoint presentation highlighting the work that the maintenance staff has done.

“Everything from the ceilings to the floors, and most everything in between,” said Prendergast. “Painting, sanitizing and cleaning, the staff has really done another tremendous job this year, and that’s not even including all of the bond issue refurbishments.”

Some of the larger-scale projects featured window replacement at Parkville School, new roofing and library reconstruction at John F. Kennedy Elementary School and Great Neck South Middle School, and parking lot reconstruction for Great Neck North High School.

“At the end of the day, it’s all amazing,” Prendergast said. “We got all the work done, and I was very mindful of Labor Day coming early this year for all the work we had to get done before school started.”

 

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