Construction complaints arise at Memorial

The construction of an elevator to serve the Valley Stream Central High School District offices at Memorial Junior High School is currently under way, and some teachers at the school say that noise from the work has disrupted their classrooms.

The Herald received a call from a teacher at Memorial — who did not give his name — who said that the jackhammering during school hours has disturbed classes. Pat Naglieri, vice president of the high school’s sector of the teachers’ union, said that on Oct. 27, he received several phone calls from teachers complaining about the loud construction.

Naglieri said he immediately called the district office and the jackhammering ceased. He added that he met with district officials and Principal Dr. Kathleen Walsh, who helped arrange for teachers to move their classes if they felt the noise was overbearing. “It was handled very well,” Naglieri said. “The district responded immediately and hopefully we have a plan in place.”

The district is installing an elevator in its administration wing to make its offices accessible for people with disabilities. The district offices are located on the second floor of Memorial at the back of the building, and those with disabilities who wanted to go to there had to cut through the junior high school to do so.

Superintendent Dr. Marc Bernstein said that the district initially planned to have the majority of the work done over the summer, but it didn’t get approval from the state education department for the project until May. Bernstein said because of the delay, the district went out to bid later than expected and accepted the lowest bid in July, which is why the construction started so late. He added that the district prepared for the noisy work by moving classes near the administration wing to other rooms. The district also sent out a memo to teachers informing them of open classrooms throughout the school, Bernstein said, so they had the option of moving their classes if the noise got too loud.

Bernstein noted that on Oct. 27, the jackhammering was very loud and admitted he could “hear it clearly in my office.” That is when he received the call from Naglieri, he said. Bernstein had the construction stopped and the jackhammering resumed after school let out. “It was loud and it shouldn’t have happened,” Bernstein said. “Within a half hour of the call, we were able to reschedule the noisiest part of the work.”

The construction, which is being done by ACL Construction of West Babylon, started in the end of September and officials say it is slated to be done by January. Wayne Loper, assistant superintendent of finances, said the total cost of the project is around $770,000. The elevator was paid for through a voter-approved allocation from the district’s capital reserve fund.

The superintendent said he had not received any complaints from parents about the construction.