The Sewanhaka Central High School District Board of Education will hold a special board meeting on Oct. 1 to make a bond proposal to address construction needed at the district’s five high schools.
Sewanhaka Superintendent of Schools Ralph Ferrie announced plans for the special meeting at the school board meeting on Tuesday night. He said the board’s goal is to have a public referendum vote on the bond in December.
Ferrie said the district’s ad hoc committee, comprised of residents from each of the high schools, has met multiple over the summer and is planning to meet with them again in September to “keep them updated with where we’re at.”
The Sewanhaka board is considering how to address $78.17 million in repairs and construction needs identified at the school district’s five high schools in board-commissioned report from Hauppauge-based Wiedersum Associates.
“We are hoping to move forward with the recommendations that ad hoc committee made in June and I think everybody will be pleased with the scope of the work at all of the buildings for these much needed projects,” Ferrie said.
He also said the board has retained representatives from Hauppage-based School Construction Consultants, Nicolas Amoruso and Paul Adamo, to affirm Wiedersum’s cost estimates and make any modifications if needed, Ferrie said.
“Everyone worked very hard to bring this bond issue to fruition. We’re very hopeful it’s something that is going to be embraced by all of our communities,” said Sewanhaka school board President David Fowler.
Wiedersum has projected an estimated $10.3 million in upgrades at New Hyde Park Memorial High School, including $1.3 million for a new turf athletic field, $2 million for heating ventilation, $1.1 million for a music room, and $1.8 million for improvements to the auditorium, including $800,00 for an air conditioning system.
Richard W. Wiedersum, president of Wiedersum Associates Architects, has said the resurfacing of the running track at New Hyde Park Memorial this summer would not impede the eventual installation of a turf field included in Widersum’s plans.
In addition to the work at New Hyde Park Memorial, projected work at the other four high schools includes:
• $14.5 million at Floral Park Memorial High School, including $1.56 million for a new athletic field, $9.2 million for an enlarged auditorium. $1.1 for heating and ventilation improvements and $250,000 to restore the building’s masonry
• $26.1 million at Sewanhaka High School, including a $14 million gym and cafeteria addition, $1.55 million for a new athletic field and $1.33 million for auditorium improvements
• $16.27 million for Elmont High School, including a $1.4 million athletic field, $2.75 million for a new library, $1.9 million for a cafeteria expansion, $1.83 million for heating and ventilation, $1.77 million for a new gym addition; $320,000 for a new gym ceiling and $115,000 for security technology
• $10.9 million at H. Frank Carey High School in Franklin Square, including $2.3 million for an athletic field, $2 million for heating and ventilation, and $2.1 million for auditorium upgrades.
In other developments:
• Ferrie reported Elmont Memorial’s Model U.N. team won the “Best Small Delegation” award at the WE Model United Nations Conference in Beijing, China.
The invitation-only conference took place between July 31 and Aug. 4 and the Elmont team competed against over 1,500 teams from 22 countries.
The team, comprised of James Bailey, Michael Bediako, Christian Butron, Leanna Faulk, Isaiah Genao, Chukwudi Kanu, Darnell Marescot, Ashley Reese and Mykelle Richburg, was one of only three teams from the United States to compete at the conference.
Ferrie said that the team, along with their advisors Mel Kohn, Nkenge Gilliam, Athena Allen, Frank Nuara and Elmont Memorial principal John Capozzi, will be honored at the upcoming September board meeting.
