A state education department backlog will likely mean some parts of a $7 million Mineola school district renovation package won’t get moving until next fall.
But the school board is making plans to expedite other parts, notably the upgrades to the athletic field and track at Mineola High School.
“The whole intention here is not to have two fields approved in November and not have either one a year later,” Superintendent Michael Nagler said at Thursday’s school board meeting.
The district submitted plans to the state in September for the largest chunk of the package voters approved 442-162 on Nov. 10: a new synthetic turf athletic field with lights and a concession stand, a new bus loop, cafeteria, multi-purpose room and classrooms at Hampton Street School worth $5 million, funded by the district’s capital reserve.
Because they include structural changes, the district will have to wait about 42 weeks for approval of those projects and the technology lab, or “Fab Lab,” at Mineola High School.
The high school package, worth about $2 million, also includes the athletic field and track, ceiling repairs and storage space.
But rather than submit the high school plans as one package, Nagler said, the district can couple the sports field with the less intensive projects, only subject to a four- to eight-week wait. Plans for the technology lab would go in separately.
“It’s important to understand that the Fab Lab is being delayed because of the state’s queue, not that we’re just rushing to do the field first,” school board Trustee Margaret Ballantyne-Mannion said.
Construction on the high school field could start in June and be finished by Labor Day in September. The district would also likely have approval for the other projects by then, Nagler said.
Construction could start at Hampton Street School, an elementary school, in October and be finished after about three months.
The board is also considering widening the high school field from 55 yards to 65 after getting feedback from sports coaches.
The larger field would allow greater flexibility, Nagler said. But making room for it creates what he called a “domino effect.”
The new field would encroach on the adjacent baseball field and soccer field that lies on a steep incline and gathers puddles when it rains.
Enlarging the football field would require leveling that field, installing a new underground drainage system and putting in two retaining walls, adding a cost of about $200,000.
The district has that money in its facilities budget, Nagler said.
Even with the additional work, enlarging the field is “a chance to do the whole thing right,” board Vice President Patricia Navarra said.
“No more than you would do it at your home, you would do it right, or you would wait until you could do it right,” Ballantyne-Mannion said. “And if we can do it right now, I’d rather do it right, now.”
