By Angela Marshall
Only 1,490 people voted and the bond passed 1009 to 481. Fewer votes were cast than in a typical school board election or the 1996 bond vote for almost $15 million worth of projects throughout the district, which attracted 1,616 voters.
Neighbors of the property, who have been working to clean up Maple Avenue, protested the school's plan to relocate its maintenance department there. Three residents even filed a petition with the state education commissioner, Richard Mills, asking him to either stop the vote or nullify the results because they felt the board had failed to follow state laws concerning the referendum. The board denied the allegations and Mills did not stop the vote. He has not made a decision on the petition.
I'm very pleased that the community decided to support this, said Meg Koch, president of the school board. She said the board will get to work closing on the property and becoming good neighbors.
I hope the school district does prove us wrong, one Maple Avenue Task Force member said after the vote.
The civic association has worked for more than three years to improve the neighborhood and had hoped homes or a low-impact business would be developed on the Dedek property. Members of the Middle Village Civic Association also opposed the move.
I understand that we are not giving them nirvana. It won't be a park. It won't be four homes. But it will be wonderful for the children of Rockville Centre, said Keith Gaskell, vice president of the board.
District officials initiated the purchase because enrollment at South Side High School is expected to surpass classroom capacity in the next few years. Administrators plan to use the building vacated by the maintenance staff for a photography lab and a building class called Outdoor Structures. The Outdoor Structures current facility would become the new home of the Art Department.
The average homeowner can expect to pay $6 a year for 20 years to pay off the bond.
