By:MELISSA O'HARA
District 30 reports improvements will not harm environment
Children in west Valley Stream's School District 30 will enjoy smaller class sizes and technological improvements if an $8.5 million bond, tentatively scheduled for an Oct. 15 referendum, is approved by voters. The school board will make a final decision to proceed with the vote on Aug. 27.
The district's board held a public meeting Aug. 6 at the Shaw Avenue Elementary School as part of the bond consideration process and made environmental impact determinations regarding its plans.
In response to recent and projected increases in student populations and to upgrade outdated facilities, District 30 is planning improvements throughout the district. According to its State Environmental Quality Review report, "The District's Long Range Planning Study documents an increase in district enrollment (in kindergarten through sixth grades) from 1,100 students in 1990 to 1,502 students in 2000. It is projected that enrollment will continue to expand steadily through 2004, with growth slowing to a peak in 2006, estimated at 1,682 students."
The report indicates that the population at the Clear Stream Avenue, Forest Road and Shaw Avenue "buildings require additional classrooms in order to accommodate the present student population, with the demand for additional classroom space increasing over the next five years."
The plan consists of expanding and reconstructing the space at two of the district's three schools, Forest Road and Shaw Avenue. Clear Stream Avenue will also experience changes but will not see on-site expansion or other major improvements.
John Ellsworth, an environmental specialist with Cashin Associates, P.C. prepared the SEQRA report and addressed the parents and board members at the meeting about their environmental concerns regarding the plans.
To deal with the need for additional space for kindergarten classes, the district has proposed that its administrative offices on Washington Avenue be reverted to classroom use. The office will be converted to a kindergarten center for the area served by the Clear Stream Avenue School.
Under the plan, the Washington Avenue building will alleviate the need for expansion at the Clear Stream facility because the space used there now by the kindergarten classes will be used by grades one through six.
According to the district report, however, the primary reason for not expanding Clear Stream is the presence of a plume of contaminated groundwater from a gas station spill that lies beneath the Clear Stream Avenue school property. The report states that, "Although precautionary testing of indoor air quality and soil vapors performed by the school district indicates that the school has not experienced direct adverse impacts due to the petroleum contamination in the groundwater, the district has made a determination not to engage in major improvements at this location until such time as the ongoing cleanup has been completed."
Only minor interior modifications will be performed at Clear Stream and will not extend outside of the building.
All improvements to the Forest Road School will occur in the west wing of the building and bring the school four new classrooms, the reconversion of two, a new computer room and media center, along with storage rooms. The total proposed expansion of Forest Road School is 7,995 square feet.
Money will be put to use at Forest Road to fix problems the report cited including the growth of mold and asbestos in the crawl space. The school has done periodic testing on the mold and asbestos and has found that it is "not imminently dangerous and it's fully safe," said Richard Eisenberg, the board president.
Eisenberg further explained that the school is monitoring and doing monthly air and soil testing on an underground gas plume that is now 600 feet from school property.
Shaw Avenue School is expected to have the existing auditorium and stage reconstructed and a one-story building in the school's courtyard added that will hold two new classes. A corridor will be built to provide access to the courtyard.
To deal with the anticipated traffic increase that a higher student population creates, the district plans on arranging a pickup and drop-off schedule for Washington Avenue and Clear Stream parents.
For kindergartners' safety, Eisenberg said parents must park and walk children to the building.
District officials said they have notified neighbors that the construction at Forest Road and Washington Avenue will be noisy.
"The report is thorough and is a comprehensive review of what the bond is and would have. Proceeding with the bond would [have] no negative impact to the community," said Dist. 30 Superintendent Lawrence R. McGoldrick.
