Less than 10 days before Sewanhaka Central High School District voters go the polls to decide on a proposed $86.6 million capital improvements bond, an audience of less than 20 people attended a presentation on the mechanics and finances of the bond.
“A large capital project like this, the work won’t be done for several years. So naturally the funding would be over several years,” said Richard Tortora, president of Great Neck-based Capital Markets Advisors, LLC, which is the school district’s financial consultant on the project.
Tortora said the initial short-term notes would probably carry a 1.75 percent interest rate. Then he said he anticipated a “scale of interest rates” for the subsequent bonds, with the net rate on all of the bonds for the $86.6 million approximately 3.16 percent.
He said 90 percent of work on the Sewanhaka bond project would be reimbursable at the 47 percent rate the state recently established for such capital projects.
Tortora said the district would also not exceed the $86.6 million projected cost.
“The district is not authorized to spend a more than the public approves,” he said.
Sewanhaka Superintendent Ralph Ferrie said all contracts the district endorses for the work will include penalties to the contractors for delays and cost overruns.
The $86.6 million bond would be used to replace or repair the roofs at all five district high schools, replace classroom windows, make masonry repairs, renovate the auditoriums of the five high schools and install a new turf field at each school.
Planned improvements at New Hyde Park Memorial High School, including a roof renovation; an auditorium renovation, including new seating, flooring and lights; roof repairs, a repaved parking lot, one new turf field for football and field hockey; fitness room refurbishments and replacement of the gym ceiling.
The bond proposal was revised after the original $99.5 million bond was defeated last December by less than 300 votes out of more than 5,000 cast.
With a vote scheduled for May 20, Ferrie had opened the forum with a power point presentation summarizing the project for an audience of fewer than 20 people in the Sewanhaka High School auditorium.
In response to a question about total cost of the bond from New Hyde Park resident Christine Grincato, Tortora said interest on the $86.6 million bond would ultimately be approximately $30 million. He said he anticipated an initial $30 million bond for the project that would cost $8 million in debt service. He said a second bond for $56 million would cost $23 million in debt service.
Asked what would happen if voters reject the bond again, Ferrie said, “If the taxpayers say no, we’ll have to go back to the drawing board and see what the district will approve.”
He said some programs would be cut immediately to cover the estimated $1 million cost to redo the H. Frank Carey Memorial High School roof in Franklin Square, which is in need of immediate repair.
Residents will also vote May 20 on a proposed $175.3 million budget for 2014-15, which calls for the elimination of up to 13 teachers, 12 teaching assistants, an assistant principal and a clerical staff member.
Ferrie said the 27 job cuts would save the district $2.06 million, allowing the district to stay within the state-mandated tax cap. He has said he hopes to make the cuts as painless as possible, relying on attrition and retirements before implementing layoffs.
The $175.3 million budget is a 2.1 percent increase over the current 2013-14 budget of $171.78 million. The projected tax levy is $135.91 million, a 1.56 percent increase over the current $133.82 million levy.
With the projected staff reductions, district salaries are projected to decrease 0.3 percent by $330,053 in the 2014-15 budget to $96.22 million from $96.55 million in the current budget.
The cost of employee benefits will increase 8.6 percent year-to-year by $3.7 million to $47.76 million from $43.06 million.
Nearly $600,000 in capital projects were removed from the bond to the budget, including $246,424 for New Hyde Park Memorial High School to paint the gym and replace its ceiling and replace the school’s windows on the building’s west side and $65,185 to refinish the gym and install handicapped ramps at Floral Park Memorial High School.
Ferrie has pointed out that the Sewanhaka district currently spends $18,794 per student, which he said puts the district 54th among the 57 school districts countywide. Current student enrollment of 8,246 is expected to fall to 8,104 in the 2014-15 school year.
Voters in the New Hyde Park-Garden City Park School District will be voting for their elementary school district’s proposed $36.07 million budget for 2014-15, along with the Sewanhaka budget and bond proposition.
The New Hyde Park-Garden City Park school board’s $36.07 million district budget for 2014-15 represents a 1.55 percent increase over the current $35.52 million budget .
The budget calls for tax levy of $29.53 million – a 1.64 percent increase over the current $29.05 million levy that falls below the state-mandated tax cap.
“It’s tough,” said Michael Frank, New Hyde Park-Garden City Park assistant superintendent for business. “Really what saved us was an inordinate of retirements. But that’s not going to sustain us in future years.”
Frank said despite the retirements the cost of employee benefits will rise year-to year from $10.11 million to $10.58 million.
The district will maintain but not increase programs and staff, New Hyde Park-Garden City Park Superintendent of Schools Robert Katulak said.
“We’re just maintaining the statu quo. That was a miracle in itself,” Katulak said.
The school district received a $200,000 year-to-year increase in state aid based on the budget approved by the state Legislature last month. Katulak said that will enable splitting two large classes in one grade at the Manor Oaks School into three classes next fall.
Two incumbent New Hyde Park-Garden City Park school board trustees, Patricia Rudd and Tara Notine, are running unopposed for re-election to the board in May 20 vote.
Rudd, who is currently board vice president, has served on the school board for the past 15 years. She said her experience is the main reason she wants to continue to serve.
“I think it’s important to have a balance of new board members and seasoned board members who’ve seen the changes in the trends,” Rudd said.
Rudd served as president of the New Hyde Park-Garden City Park school board from 2005 to 2009. She served on the Sewanhaka Central High School school board from 2003 to 2008.
She has also been a member of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association since 2005, where she said she is “basically representing Nassau County as a whole.”
Notine, who ran for the seat vacated by Alan Cooper last year, said being on the board has been a good experience.
“I decided to run for a full term because I enjoyed being on the board and felt I was able to make a difference,” Notine said.
Notine currently has three children attending the Manor Oaks School and also one in eighth grade at New Hyde Park Memorial High School. She remains active in the Manor Oaks PTA.
New Hyde Park-Garden City Park district residents can vote on May 20 in the Manor Oaks School at 1950 Hillside Ave. in New Hyde Park from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
