By Rebecca Shalomoff
Residents who voted at Hewlett High School actually approved the measure 968 to 952. But it was at the middle school where voters came out overwhelmingly against the bond, 682 to 423.
I don't know why it failed, said school board president Richard Braverman. I'm disappointed because the only ones who get hurt are the children.
Added trustee Ellie Greenberg, This was a vote to build this community, and people voted it down.
Opponents of the bond issue complained about the taxpayer burden of constructing a new school building at a time when county finances are in such disarray and when the nation is trying to fight its way out of a recession.
Had voters approved the bond, district officials estimated the cost would have been $333 a year for the owner of a typical home assessed at $10,000. The bond would have been paid out over 30 years at 5.25 percent interest.
Opponents argued that the district has underestimated costs of other capital projects, such as the installation of portable classrooms now under way. They also felt the board was wrong to schedule the vote at a time when many residents, particularly senior citizens, are out of town.
A majority of Hewlett-Woodmere school board members and many concerned residents pushed for a new building because the existing school is overcrowded and deteriorating. Pieces of the ceiling have fallen down in many places, the front wall leaks and students squeeze into jam-packed classrooms.
Plans for a new school, drawn up by architects from Kaeyer Garnet & Davidson, included 34 classrooms, 10 science labs, two art rooms and one music area, all on 130,000 square feet of property. The new school would have been erected behind the existing building, further away from the high-tension wires and Peninsula Boulevard, and would have opened during the 2004-05 school year for about 800 students in grades six to eight.
To temporarily relieve overcrowding in the school, two portable classrooms are being added and are expected to be completed by June.
In March 2000 an $85 million bond, which included construction of a new middle school, as well as renovations to other schools in the district, was overwhelmingly voted down in a special election.
