By Lauren Young
Staff Writer
$15 million worth of infrastructure, site and educational space enhancements are being planned for three schools within the Cazenovia School District, according to proposed Phase 1 Capital Project plans presented to the board of education on Monday, Aug. 20.
The preliminary Capital Project scope and financing plan were presented to the board of education at its last meeting by the project team; comprised of TetraTech Architects & Engineers, Campus Construction Management, Fiscal Advisors & Marketing, Inc. and district representatives to consider implementing $15 million worth of improvements to the district with upgrades focused on Burton St. Elementary and the Cazenovia Middle School and High School on Emory Ave. On Sept. 18, the district will hold its first public forum to present a broad overview of the project and to elicit feedback from the community about what upgrades or improvements they would like to see.
While the project’s scope is still in process, roughly $8 million of the capital project will go toward Burton St. Elementary and $7 million will go toward Cazenovia Middle and High School, said Superintendent Matt Reilly.
The project cornerstones include: life safety and security upgrades; educational space enhancements; infrastructure upgrades; and fine arts, athletics and community upgrades.
Safety and security upgrades include enhanced security at building entries, relocating the high school main office, PA system and camera upgrades, replacement of deteriorating sidewalks and pavements and Burton St. traffic improvements.
Educational space enchantments include creating flexible educational spaces at the elementary, middle and high schools, specialized educational spaces for high-needs students and creating a student-run store.
Infrastructure upgrades include a planned program for roofing replacements, energy efficiency upgrades, Burton St. floor and ceiling replacements and a phased relocation of the greenhouse, which Matt Erwin, director of facilities, said is currently “not effective at its current location.”
“It’s not designed very well,” he said. “One of the first steps is to repurpose that space and look at alternatives for [a different] location.”
Fine arts, athletics and community improvements include upgrades to auditorium sound and theatrical lighting, planned playground improvements at Burton St. and resurfacing the running track.
Much of the Capital Project will include improvements to Burton Street Elementary in particular, which has been overlooked for other priorities, said Erwin.
“We’re looking at new floors, ceilings…a lot of extensive work at Burton St. [Elementary],” he said. “We just want to freshen the building up and replace aging infrastructure.”
Some other proposed improvements and modifications planned for Burton St. Elementary include modifying classrooms to “better serve current curriculum needs,” including the creation of a “Fab-Lab” Maker Space to “better support 21st century project-based student learning.”
For Cazenovia Middle and High School on Emory Ave., proposed improvements include creating a flexible multi-use space in the middle school, which features an outdoor classroom space. Other improvements include upgrading special education spaces by taking advantage of the “underutilized” family consumer and sciences space and creating a “potentially 4,000 square-foot flexible education space” within a corridor of the school to be used by “different departments within the district,” said Erwin. Other modifications include relocating the high school main office and adding a student-run store, which Erwin said would provide “real-world business experience” for students.
Infrastructure improvements for the middle and high school also include upgrading the middle school playground, from replacing the existing asphalt hardscape surface with softer, more durable material to adding a seating area.
Fiscal advisors reviewed the first phase of the project and concluded that 97 percent of the work is eligible to apply for aid by the state department of education (NYSED), said Fiscal Advisor Christina Kennedy.
“With the proposed project, we want to layer in the new debt service cost where the old debt service is falling off, and that would allow the district to address its capital needs and avoid any large increases in local share to support those new project costs,” said Kennedy.
The district’s debt service consists of budgeted funds approved by taxpayers in the past to pay for previous projects. As old projects are paid off, these funds can be used, with taxpayer approval, to support the local share of future projects.
The district’s current NYS aid rate is 66.7 percent, which means 33 percent of project costs are considered local responsibility. According to project plans, the local share will be paid off over the course of 15 years, said Reilly.
The size of the project was partly determined by the amount of debt service falling off the books in 2023 as the district’s goal is to have a, “neutral impact on our debt service, thereby not creating an additional tax burden,” said Reilly.
In preparing for the district’s capital improvement needs, information was gathered from resources like a building condition survey, a grade level study, strategic planning, a safety forum and daily conversations — all part of the district’s Long-Range Plan (LRP).
In prioritizing for the project, said Erwin, the project’s vision becomes a reality by determining the budget, identifying needs vs. wants (with initial priorities established by architects and the facilities department), considering the resources that guided the LRP and sharing the proposed project with the community to elicit feedback and to assist with finalizing the scope.
The first public forum will be held on Sept. 18 by the board of education, featuring a broad overview of the project and welcoming feedback from the public. There will also be an opportunity to tour the facilities on Sept. 22. The project team and the facilities committee will then present the input of all stakeholders and refine the scope for a presentation to the board of education on Oct. 15.
If the board of education approves the proposed project, there will be a public vote on Dec. 18. Depending upon the vote, design plans would be drawn up and submitted to the district. The plans must then be approved by the state department of education by March 2020. Upon approval, construction would commence in the summer of 2020 and finish by Sept. 2021.
In the weeks leading up to that, the project team will provide the community with regular updates about the project on lobby boards, the Blue and Gold newsletter, social media, the district website and the Cazenovia Republican.
The full list of the district’s capital project improvements are listed on the Cazenovia Central School District website at cazenoviacsd.com.
