Top Ten Most Frequently Asked Questions About the December 14^th Bond Referendum…

Q.      Why is there a need for the referendum?

A.      During the past ten years enrollment K-7 has increased by almost 900 students and class sizes are above state recommended guidelines. Central School is 55 years old, Lawrence Brook is 46 years old and Hammarskjold is 44 years old – the facilities are old, inadequate, and inefficient by today’s standards.

Q.     Why build a new Hammarskjold when we just put on an addition in 1996?

A.     The 1996 addition will remain intact. The needs are so great at Hammarskjold that the state has determined that it is more cost effective to build new than to renovate – by doing so the district will save $4.6 million.

Q.     District test scores are good – why is there a need to reduce class size?

A.     The high SAT scores that we are seeing now are those of high school seniors and recent graduates who were in elementary school and Hammarskjold when class sizes were more in line with the state recommended guidelines.

Q.     What happens if the bond referendum fails?

A.     The work still has to be completed. The project would come before the voters one more time. If that should fail the district would appeal to the Commissioner of Education to order the issuance of bonds. In the mean time instruction costs would undoubtedly rise, educational programming would continue to be effected and we would risk losing the $24.7 million in state funding for the project. There may also be costs for emergency repairs.

Q.     Why not just build a new elementary school to take the overflow from the others?

A.     Building a new elementary school would not address all of the issues and would actually add additional problems. We would still have to address the aging infrastructures of the existing elementary buildings. There would be additional costs to purchase land and to bus students.

Q.     How much is this project going to cost the taxpayers?

A.     The district has received a state grant of $24.7 million for the   $106.1 million project making the cost to the taxpayer $81.4 million. Beginning in 2009, when the projects are completed, the cost to the taxpayer will be $140 per $100,000 of assessed value until the bonds are paid back. In 2006 the cost will be $45, in 2007, $74, in 2008, $131 per $100,000 of assessed value.

Q.     Will this be the last big project for a while?

A.     This is the first phase of a two phased plan. The second phase would go before the voters in the fall of 2006 to address similar needs at the other six elementary schools. That cost of that phase is estimated to be $35.1 million.

Q.     Why haven’t the facilities been maintained?

A.     On the contrary the facilities have been maintained very well for the systems to hold up like they have. Think what you would have had to replace in a home that is that same age. Think about the amount of use over time that the facilities have had both by the educational system and the community. 

Q.     How will educational programming be disrupted during the construction phase and when will the projects be completed?

A.     Most of the work at the two elementary schools will be completed over during the summers and is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2007. AT Hammarskjold there will be a minimal amount of disruption since the new school will be completed before the students move into it. The Hammarskjold will be completed in the Fall of 2008.

Q.     Why haven’t the builders had to contribute to the schools in some way?

A.     There was a time when builders were required to contribute to a community where they were involved in adding housing developments. The courts decided that this practice is illegal so the requirement no longer exists.