Haverling voters pass $16.5M project
By ROB PRICE THE COURIER-ADVOCATE

BATH - Haverling school district residents Wednesday approved a $16.5 million capital project that includes new roofs, expanded middle school classrooms, enhanced security systems and safer traffic patterns at the elementary school.

The vote was 418 to 392.

It follows by three months voters' rejection of a $19.5 million capital project that had included proposals to install artificial turf on the school district's football field and the purchase of private property to expand parking near the soccer field.

Following that vote, school board members pared down the project, eliminating the artificial turf and parking options. School officials say the entire $16.5 million project will have no impact on local property taxes.

State building aid and EXCEL aid will amount to $16 million, according to school Superintendent Marion Tunney. The remainder of the project's cost will be covered by the school district's capital reserve fund, now valued at nearly $530,000.

After Wednesday's voting results were tallied, Tunney said school board members next will work closely with Hunt Engineers to prepare final architectural plans for the New York State Education Department's review. Those plans will be submitted to the state early in 2009, Tunney said.

Approval from SED could come in October 2009, with construction to begin sometime in 2010.

"I'm very pleased the project has passed so that we can do the repairs that are needed without raising taxes," Tunney said. "We can improve instructional spaces and the technology infrastructure, and we can continue to prepare our students for their future challenges as best as we can."

The capital project includes provisions to replace roofs on the primary, elementary, middle and high schools and to upgrade school security systems at school entrances.

The school district also plans to upgrade its information technology infrastructure and add SMART Boards - an electronic equivalent of the old slate blackboard - to classrooms.

Additional features include maintenance and repairs recommended in a building condition survey completed in 2007.

In the primary school specifically, the project includes:

• An improved drop-off area in front of the building to relieve congestion
• An enlarged gymnasium
• Additional parking

• Kitchen upgrades

In the elementary, middle and high schools, the project includes:

• Increased classroom size in the 5th and 6th grades

• New auditorium rigging and lighting systems
• Improved ventilation
• Renovated restrooms and
locker rooms for handicapped
accessibility