Roslyn School District Trustees on Thursday were divided over the necessity of future construction projects to the district’s five campuses.
KG&D architect Erik Kaeyer gave a presentation at Thursday’s board meeting regarding the amount of work to be done to each school and showed early designs of what each campus would look like once the $34.5 million project is completed.
Roslyn Middle School’s primary problem, Kaeyer said, is a central stairway that becomes too congested throughout the school day.
The East Hills Elementary School’s project would add parking spaces, a lobby vestibule and security enhancement, Kaeyer said.
Kaeyer said Heights Elementary School’s library would be upgraded into a new media center and the school’s main entrance will be changed along with the addition of a canopy and lobby.
Harbor Hill Elementary School would see improvements to its playground and gymnasium, and add a new service hub for district buses.
Roslyn High School would also have a redesigned parking lot, a separate lot for buses and a new photography lab.
But trustees were concerned that many of the upgrades would be focused on the aesthetics of the buildings and not the learning that takes place inside them.
“There’s actually very little that is going to fundamentally affect our children’s education process,” Trustee Clifford Saffron said. “The only thing I see in the proposal that would touch on [education] is the renovations of the libraries to media centers.”
The project would likely require a bond referendum that would be put to voters in December, but the board would have to agree to construction plans by early October, officials said. A bond referendum would have to be approved 45 days in advance of a vote.
“It’s a plus or minus six to eight months between when you receive bond vote approval and when we move on to the next phase,” Kaeyer explained.
Brenner said he’d like to see the board reach a financing agreement that would not require voters to approve a bond referendum.
“To not go forward [because of a failed vote] is a mistake,” Brenner said.
Trustee Adam Haber said that because the project was likely to raise school taxes, it was crucial to include the input of the Roslyn community during future discussions about the project.
Haber, who is running for Nassau County executive, suggested the board host public meetings to allow the public to comment on which upgrades they’d like to see take place.
Board President Meryl Waxman Ben-Levy agreed that community insight is important for a project like this, but added it should not dominate discussion at future meetings.
“I’m not saying there shouldn’t be hearings, but not to roll back everything we’ve done,” Ben-Levy said.
Trustees said they will continue their discussions regarding the future of the construction projects at the board’s next meeting Sept. 12.
In other business, the board approved Robert Root as the interim principal at Harbor Hill Elementary School, filling the position recently vacated by Maureen Berman, who left the district for a position within the Lynrbook School District.
Trustees said they are looking to find a full-time principal by November.
