Valley Stream high school buildings get attention

The Central High School District Board of Education is planning to include about $300,000 worth of capital projects in next year’s budget. Board members got a look at the need for these improvements during the annual facilities tour last Saturday morning.

There was something different to view at each school. At the first stop, North High School, board members saw a buckling wood floor in the school’s computer room. Wayne Loper, assistant superintendent for finance and operations, said the damage is the result of steam leaks from pipes under the floor. The old floor would be ripped up, he said, and replaced with vinyl tile.

Principal Cliff Odell is asking to have fencing installed on a grass area in front of the school, near the gym lobby entrance. He wants to create additional practice space for the school’s sports teams. Odell said the back fields get very crowded during the fall and spring seasons, as the girls’ and boys’ varsity, junior varsity and junior high teams are often practicing at the same time, from multiple sports.

No time is the extra space needed more than in the spring, Odell said, which is baseball and softball season when balls are flying through the are. Odell added that because the area he wants to convert is the front of the building, he is recommending a low black vinyl fence, three or four feet high, which would cost about $23,000. “This is a big decision in terms of the aesthetics of the building,” he said.

Board of Education member Tony Iadevaio said he would want to see a rendering of the plan first before the fence goes up. And board President Jeanne Greco Jacobs said she would like to get the input of area homeowners.

At South High, Principal Maureen Henry is asking to turn a third floor classroom, used as a resource room, into an additional science lab. She said that the school has 13 full-time and two part-time science teachers, but only 11 science rooms. Converting the room would require the installation of a sink and drain, and Henry said there is easy access to plumbing there. “I just thought it would be a better use of the space,” she said.

Outside the school, Henry is requesting additional lights for the parking lot off Jedwood Place, and for a path alongside the school. She said there are a lot of evening activities at the school and those two areas are very dark.

To add more lights at the far end of the parking lot would require digging a trench through the parking lot to run electricity from the building. However, board members said that instead, maybe they could tap into the electric lines that run behind the school’s property.

A major concern at Central High are cracks in the outside wall of the Bert Keller Auditorium. Loper said that the cracks are the result of the foundation settling. He said it will cost $12,500 just to have an architectural study done, to determine what repair work is needed fix the problem.

Board Trustee Bill Stris noted that the side of the school where the auditorium was built used to be a swamp, and it is likely that the pilings have deteriorated.

Principal Joseph Pompilio is requesting new doors for the library. At the back exit to the staircase, the doors are hard to open and the metal frame is bending. The cost to replace those and the main entrance doors would be $18,000.

He is also looking to have the carpet replaced in the library, which is wrinkling and stained in many places.

At Memorial, Principal Anthony Mignella wants to move an art room from the basement to the first floor. He wants to use a section of the band room, which is minimally used for music equipment storage, for the new art room.

Creating the room would require building a new wall and adding some doors and sound-proofing. Mignella is also asking for some improvements to the main parking lot, as many parents use it to drop off their children before school and often cut through the spaces creating a dangerous situation.

Loper said that the parking lot is for employees, but they would have to station a security guard at the entrance to prevent parents from entering the lot. He said there are some traffic flow devices that could be added, such as low concrete barriers between the spots.

In the gymnasium, Loper showed the board four basketball hoops that need to be replaced. He said the hoops over the bleachers were designed to go up, but the cranks no longer work. The four would each be replaced with a new electric motor, cable and backboard.

There were a few projects common to each school. The proposed capital budget calls for $15,000 for each building for sidewalk and blacktop repair. On the tour, members of the board and public got to see examples of completed work from recent years, including a new sidewalk leading to the main entrance at South High.

New ceiling tiles and lights have been installed in every classroom in the district. Now, Loper said he wants to have this work completed in some of the small instructional spaces where special services are offered.

Loper also cited one recently completed project, electrical upgrades at each school to run an emergency generator. The district purchased the portable generator, which can be brought to either of the four schools if one is needed as an emergency shelter. The generator could power the gyms and kitchens, and has a two-day supply of diesel fuel.

At a Board of Education meeting following the tour, board members unanimously approved including all of the recommended projects, totaling $295,650, in the 2012-13 budget. The next budget meeting is scheduled for Feb. 7.