Members of the district’s facilities committee recommended improvements to the high school’s fire alarms and lighting at district buildings, rebuilding of pavements and curbs, and the replacement of fences as part of a proposed $4 million capital improvements budget at last Thursday’s Roslyn Board of Education meeting.
Commitee member Greg Resnick suggested enhancing the high school’s fire alarms and providing ample lighting throughout district buildings, while Sam Janowitz noted that pavements and curbs need to be rebuilt and fencing needs replacing throughout the district.
Board Vice President Clifford Saffron questioned how the combination of projects would total $4 million.
“Prices add up if you consider that paving one mile of road costs around $100,000.” Janowitz responded.
Superintendent Dan Brenner said the district’s next step would be to build a referendum to determine which projects would pose a safety risk if not undertaken immediately.
During the meeting, the board also reviewed the proposed budgets for athletics, transportation and technology in the proposed $102,621,562 school budget for 2013-2014.
Athletic director Dawn Cerrone presented a proposed budget of $1,259,269 for the 2013-2014 school year, a $40,000 increase over last year’s $1,210,566.
Cerrone said some of her 2012-13 priorities are still in progress, such as the addition of a cargo net and outdoor Project Adventure obstacle courses in the elementary school and an indoor Project Adventure course at the high school, but one of the biggest projects she would like to pass in the coming year is for a new scoreboard at the high school, which she said would cost $35,000.
“I tried to use the existing funds, tried to redistribute those funds throughout the budget, take a look at the great budgets of the past and we’re here to try and make it better,” Cerrone said.
Cerrone also commended the athletic and health department for finding innovative ways to encourage a healthy lifestyle, citing the addition of Zumba and future addition of CrossFit to the Roslyn physical education curriculum.
Cerrone said two physical education teachers had recently become certified to teach Zumba and another is in the process of attaining CrossFit certification.
Transportation supervisor David Shoob proposed a $4,286,311 budget for the 2013-14 school year, a 1.7 percent increase from the $4,361,338 budget from the 2012-13 school year.
Shoob said the bulk of the budget would go toward salaries and equipment. Included in the proposal were provisions for Roslyn High School’s plan to fuel its buses on campus.
“Roslyn High school will be the first to have a propane van in New York State,” Shoob said.
Chief Technology Officer Jason Lopez presented a $2,188,794 budget for the upcoming school year, an increase from this year’s $2,042,472.
The budget includes the continuation of the district’s iPad initiative through the rest of the high school, upgrades to the wireless infrastructure to support 1,000-plus iPads, the installation of a new district-wide data core switch, the replacement of computer labs district-wide, the deployment of portable computer carts, and security upgrades in the form of cameras on the exteriors of all buildings and additional interior cameras, as well as a new backup system and off-site retention program in preparation of future disasters.
Lopez also stressed the importance of updating and enhancing security with a two-way audio-video intercom system and the ScholarChip visitor management system that screens entrants under sex offender databases.
