On the athletic fields, there are deteriorated wooden steps leading up to the bleachers used by some 2,000-2,500 people during games and events, according to Miller. At the middle school, the entire structure holding up the bleachers is crumbling badly. The middle school has a nice site for its stadium, the bleachers set well above the field with good viewing lines, but the aluminum bleachers dating to 1984 are not code-compliant and they have large unsafe openings between each row with no fall-through protection. An ADA-compliant handrail needs to be provided, and access to the field below, which is down through the bleachers for every student — P.E. classes use the facilities as well as the athletic teams — needs to be reconstructed more safely.
The exterior of the middle school has a great deal of loose and cracked masonry, which needs repointing and threatens the structural integrity of the building.
The asphalt paving at all of the schools is in need of repair. At the elementary school, it’s breaking up in numerous spots, and as Miller pointed out, as bad as it looks to adults, to the little feet that walk on it daily it’s even worse, the “potholes” providing a constant tripping hazard.
Security
Passage of the capital project would enable each of the schools to have their main entrances reconfigured in order to control the flow of people into the buildings. As it stands now, anybody can just walk in. The plan is to have a secure vestibule at each school where visitors enter into the office and are checked in before being released into the building. There would be an upgrading of alarms and security cameras to aid in controlling the entrances and alerting staff of intruders. “All the studies have shown us that time is our best resource in these types of situations,” Superintendent Haab said. “The longer you can slow down an intruder, the safer it is.” And in addition to the active shooter situation, said board member Mike Reid, there is the “everyday” security that needs to be considered as well, from parental custody issues to student discord.
The high school lacks emergency lighting in the halls and there are gaps in the communication systems at all of the schools to notify students and staff were there to be a lockdown called. “There are areas of each school that are not available to hear communications through the paging system. When the footprint of the high school was expanded in 1988, the speaker system was not,” Peter Miller noted.
Construction of a secured entrance portal at the middle school would also solve that facility’s need for a handicapped entrance, which currently only exists through a side door, up a long slanted incline. And that door is locked, which necessitates the person waiting to enter waiting upon someone to open the door.
Protection of investment
The bus compound lot needs to be paved to keep the buses in better shape. Keeping the buses on a gravel lot as they are now doesn’t allow them to dry out thoroughly, said Miller, which shortens their useful life. Several buses are out of service now, and especially with the recent purchase of buses by the district, a paved lot would protect that investment longer. There is also equipment stored outside that will last longer with additional storage for it built.
The roofs at all three schools need recoating in order to continue their ten-year warrantees (it was last done in 2008, and if this bond passes it will be done again in 2018). “This type of roof requires constant maintenance,” Miller said. “Doing this will be preventative and keep the warranty.” The bus compound needs a new roof to replace the 27-year-old roof it currently has.
Operations
Some of the work slated to be done relates to operational needs, and making the school function as it’s meant to.
In the halls of the high school, Peter Miller demonstrated how a backpack cannot fit into the narrow 1961-vintage hall lockers installed in the days before students carried backpacks to school. And while that might seem a lesser matter in the overall picture of all the work that needs to be done, the security concerns that are also a sign of our times means that students are not allowed to carry backpacks throughout the school, so if the lockers don’t accommodate what they need for classes, they’re out of luck.
“We also need a master clock system instead of clocks running on batteries, so we can get classes dismissed on time and buses running on schedule,” said Miller. They work on a tight time frame of approximately 8-12 minutes, he said, so a difference of just a few minutes can make a big difference in preventing the scheduling problems parents have reported waiting on their children’s school buses to arrive.
At the middle school, there are a great number of windows where the glazing failed and condensation between the two panes of glass has caused a fogging that makes the window useless to see out of. The home and career classroom — a mandated course for all boys and girls — has them cooking without range hoods or ventilation and using antiquated appliances.
And then there’s the elementary school cafeteria. With its drab cork walls stained from years of water leaks from the roof and a circa-1971 stage curtain that’s badly torn and patched together with duct tape, it’s a sad space, to be kind. Superintendent Haab noted that not only do the students gather in the room for meals, but it’s the only place they have to hold assemblies and concerts. In addition, a number of community groups use the room, too, in off-school hours. Facilities manager Peter Miller added that in the month of August alone, the number of groups using the various facilities at all three school sites was nearly 300, between Girl Scouts and AAU basketball, reading and music camps and the Town of Lloyd and various associations and organizations.
What’s next
If the voters approve the bond, the architects will begin rendering their final designs and the project will go to the New York State Education Department for approval. That process could take six months or longer, according to architect Pat Flynn, depending on the department’s workload and staffing. The actual construction work is anticipated to begin in late spring or summer of 2016.
The vote on Tuesday, October 28 — to be held on the same day the New Paltz Central School District puts a $52.9 million capital improvement project proposal before their voters — is from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the band room at the high school. For more information about voter registration or obtaining an absentee ballot, call district clerk Lisa Cerniglia at (845) 235-0739. For more information, visit www.highland-k12.org.
I am alarmed about the state if the electrical system. It does beg the question— Where has all our money been going over the past 4 decades? Sadly, basic maintenance of existing infrastructure is often put in the back burner while “new” projects get all the attention. I do not mind giving money to keep students safe, but this article points to gross neglect of a basic problem–that is if the article’s author is to be believed. How could any $ have been spent elsewhere when a very basic problem existed? Something is very wrong here— & disturbing.