ESM to present elementary, pre-k school building capital projects, sets voting date

By Lauren Young

Staff writer

The East Syracuse Minoa Central School District plans to improve and upgrade its five pre-K to grade 5 buildings and has scheduled multiple presentation dates for the community prior to a public vote on the proposed capital projects in December.

Starting in November, the district will be holding a different project presentation at each school — Fremont Elementary, Park Hill School, Woodland Elementary, East Syracuse Elementary and Minoa Elementary — to introduce its “Our Elementary Objective” capitol project designed to rehabilitate each building.

According to Superintendent Dr. Donna DeSiato, the project is driven by the aging buildings, necessary infrastructure challenges and instructional space upgrades.

“It’s a major undertaking for us,” said DeSiato during the school board’s Oct. 22 meeting.

On Oct. 22, the board unanimously approved two resolutions for the no-tax impact project — one for the Elementary Objective Project’s State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) resolution, which was declared to have no significant environmental impact, and the other for officializing the capitol project proposition and its vote date on Dec. 11.

DeSiato said the board is currently awaiting state aid approval and, upon voter approval, will move into the design phase, following other logistical details.

According to the district’s website, about 74 percent of the $49.8 million budget will be paid by state aid, and the balance will be addressed by the district’s capital reserve fund.

According to board member Kay Gallery, $9.8 million worth of the project’s work will have no tax impact. “Very exciting news,” said Gallery.

Moving forward, Gallery said the board plans to focus on its public outreach for the project through methods like website updates and mailing letters home.

“We’ll be very busy leading up to the December vote,” she said.

Starting in November, meetings have been scheduled in each building so parents and community members can learn more about the proposed changes and the overall project before voting day on Tuesday, Dec. 11.

For more information, visit esmschools.org.