Capital reserve referendum vote on April 1

Lawrence district renovations progressing; Number Six School hearing on March 11

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The Lawrence Board of Education approved a resolution on Feb. 19 that calls for a public referendum to be held on April 1 for school district residents to vote on allocating the money from the sale of the Number Six School into a Capital Reserve Fund to be used for the renovations at the high school and middle school.
Last year district residents voted to approve the sale of the Woodmere school to the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach (HALB) for $8.5 million. HALB plans on moving its Long Beach-based elementary school, kindergarten through eighth grade, to the Five Towns. The Lawrence construction projects are expected to cost $5 million. About $250,000 was allocated from the district’s budget to begin the work.
Later in 2014, Lawrence came up with a restructuring plan that includes shifting its third and fourth grade students to the middle school, where a lower school will include third-, fourth- and fifth-graders and an upper school will accommodate sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders. Pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students will remain at the Number Four School and the Number Two School will be used for the first and second grades. The realignment is based on the Princeton Plan, which organizes school districts based on grade levels rather than where people live in the community.
The plan includes closing the Number Five School and leasing it to an organization that caters to special-needs children while the district retains ownership. District officials said renting the Cedarhurst building is expected to generate $350,000 in annual revenue and save more than $55,000. The lower floors would be used by the leasing agency and the top floor would accommodate the 105 special-needs students who now attend schools outside the district.
“[The referendum] ensures completion of our $5 million construction project according to the necessary timeline,” said Superintendent Gary Schall.

To facilitate the restructuring plan, the district has already moved the Transportation Office that was in the middle school to a renovated office with its own entrance in the high school. Central office that was also in the middle school will be moved to the high school. The middle school’s transportation office is being renovated to be used as the lower school administration office.
In addition, at the former middle school that is currently being called the Campus at 195 Broadway for Elementary School and Middle School, suites for music, art, technology and home and careers will be constructed.
“It facilitates the renovation of the middle school and the high school spaces to further the consolidation plan,” Board President Murray Forman said in explaining why district residents should vote yes for the referendum. “We believe it is the fiscally prudent way to bridge funds from the Number Six School for the renovations to take place.”

Number Six School
HALB has hearing with the Town of Hempstead’s Board of Appeals scheduled for March 11 at 2 p.m. The school is seeking special exceptions to build additions to the second and third floors, construct a retractable pool enclosure, waive off-street parking to park in a residential area and in a front yard setback on Branch Boulevard, build a utility shed, erect a 10-foot high basketball court fence and a 20-foot high ball field fence, and maintain a seven-foot high fence.
“The time frame is a bit complex due to all the agencies involved And their time frame to comment and issue approvals,” said Lance Hirt, president of HALB’s board. “Having said that, we are hoping to open school at the Woodmere campus in September 2016.”