Capital Project Q&A

Capital Project Progression Q&A
Posted on 09/04/2018

Q: Voters approved a project that included music room additions to the auditorium and I am now hearing that additions will not be happening. Why?
A: Our pre-referendum planning included an addition to the west side of the auditorium for a general music classroom and a choral classroom as well as a new addition to replace the temporary E-wing. That was the plan presented to the voters. The pre-referendum analysis of building aid is based on our existing aid ratio. Once approved by voters, the plans get submitted for review and approval by the New York State Education Department (NYSED). If a project includes new additions it generates an automatic review of our building aid, unfortunately this step comes after the public vote. Due to the reduction in our enrollment, in the plan review conducted by NYSED our building aid was reduced by nearly $3,000,000. If our project did not include additions, a building aid review is not required and our building aid on the project would have remained at the level in our initial plan. When we received this information, the District Administration met with our Project Consultant Team and reviewed the current use of our Middle/High School buildings. As a result of that meeting we were able to come up with a plan to accommodate all the program classroom needs as presented to voters without any additions. C-13 will become the space needed to accommodate both a general music and a choral classroom. STEAM space will be located in G-wing. Renovations and updates will still take place in the band room and auditorium which will include larger restrooms in the D-Wing area. E-Wing will still be demolished due to its poor condition and with classroom reassignments we have been able to accommodate all the classroom needs.

Q: We were told the track would be completed and not impact our home football games this Fall. Why is it not done?
A: The work on the track began on June 4. The original track work included a complete tear-off, re-paving, the installation of new fencing and a new sand pit. Pre-project testing on the sub-base determined that it was in good condition and we could pave over the top of the base so we were able to save a significant amount of money. Because of that savings, we were able to add a steeple chase to the track (a request after the fact so we could host track IAC tournaments). When the track was removed it was discovered that while most of the sub-base was in good shape there were certain areas on the outer edge of the track where the sub-base installed in previous projects was not to the correct thickness and was crumbling. This needed to be corrected. In addition, Mother Nature decided it was time for rain and rain and more rain! These are the unknowns that happen with a capital project that is impacting the completion date. We want this project to be done correctly and regret that this has impacted the football season.

Q: Where will we play our football home games?
A: The district has secured the SUNY Cortland main stadium for our home games.

Q: The referendum included the replacement of the football field irrigation system. Is that still happening?
A: No we are not replacing the irrigation and instead will attempt to repair the existing system. With a plan to ask voters to re-consider turf again in the future once our building aid re-generates we did not feel the high cost of replacing the entire irrigation system was a prudent use of district funds. We are adding hose bibs to accommodate irrigation from the edge of the field if it is needed.

Q: Will the roofing work be done before school starts?
A: No. Once again, due to all the rain this summer the roofing work has not progressed as quickly as planned. DES is close to being completed with the exception of some finishing work. There is still a substantial amount of work to be done at the MS/HS. The noise level will be kept to a minimum during the school day with the majority of the work happening later in the day. This will include the use of roofing compounds, which do carry an odor. Smells should dissipate during the night. The odors are not harmful, but can be annoying.