Take Two: Pleasantville School Board Revisits Large-Scale Bond Proposal

By Abby Luby

After last year’s failed $15 million plan, the Pleasantville School Board is renewing its push for community-backed capital improvements.

Hot-button issues were top of mind at last Tuesday’s community forum. The board is seeking feedback on a new capital project to upgrade field turfs and lights, the Bedford Road School playground and enhancements to STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics).

A slide presentation of the facilities committees’ progress was presented at the beginning of the meeting.

Many of the 60 attendees at the forum were familiar with the proposed upgrades, which were put to voters in last December’s failed capital bond. Just over 56 percent of voters rejected the highly contentious bond that proposed borrowing $13 million and using $2 million in reserves for large-scale upgrades.

Board members were joined by Interim Superintendent of Schools Dr. Eric Lutinski and Assistant Superintendent for Business John Chow. Newly placed Board President Michael Busch said the goal of the forum was to update the community on the status of the STEAM Subcommittee, Fields and Lights Subcommittee, and the BRS Playground Subcommittee. Newly added to the committees are school administrators, students and teachers.

“These committees have been hard at work evaluating our current facilities and identifying long-term needs across the district,” Busch said.

Throughout the two-hour meeting, there was no mention of a proposed date for a vote on a new bond.

Last year, the district was criticized for a lack of transparency and insufficient outreach to the community and village taxpayers about the facilities committee work and the proposed bond. Last week’s community forum assumed a more open approach and encouraged people to speak and ask questions. Most board members, along with Lutinski and Chow, answered questions and shared updates throughout the forum, although Loredana Coughlan, who serves on the STEAM Committee, did not comment.

Turf and Lights
One of the most contentious issues in last year’s bond was the installation of a new artificial turf field and new field lights. District fields and village fields are jointly used by students, village residents and recreational programs.

Many parents said they favored the installation of lights, arguing it would help teams that often miss out on full games due to limited daylight in the fall and spring.

Last year’s bond proposed installing LED energy-efficient sports field lighting fixtures certified to minimize light spill and glare onto surrounding properties.

Board Vice President John Vamossy said the subcommittee for fields and lights was taking an overall view of what fields were available, their usage, particular needs and different options for field lights.

The more challenging issue is the village-owned Parkway Field, which is shared with the district and heavily used for football home games, high school practice, recreational programs and various adult teams. Maintaining the current grass field versus the cost of installing turf and permanent lights for night games is compounded by flooding and poor soil, especially in the back field, often rendering it unusable.

Vamossy said the district and village were co-hiring Woodard & Curran, a national environmental engineering and science consulting firm based in Rye Brook, to evaluate and recommend steps for improvement. The cost for the evaluation was not addressed at the forum.

“They will conduct an analysis and a report is expected by late August,” Vamossy explained. “The hope is to give us a clear view of the options available.”

For the current fiscal year, the village of Pleasantville has budgeted $85,000 to maintain Parkway Field. Questions remain as to how the school district and village would share the cost of any improvements. The village has long claimed installing artificial turf would be cost-prohibitive.

Kristin Wenderlich, a parent in the district, expressed concern about potential toxicity from artificial turf.

“I was disappointed not to see more about the turf replacement addressed here today, which I’m against,” she said. “There is a lot of new and emerging information about the toxic elements like microplastics and PFAS (polyfluoroalkyl substances known as forever chemicals).”

Wenderlich cited a new Mount Sinai study about scientific evidence of potential health and safety risks for those playing on artificial turf surfaces. She suggested the district consider spending money on maintaining grass fields as opposed to installing artificial turf.

Vamossy reiterated the district’s considerable challenge with how fields in the district and village are used by the general population, not just by students. He asked Wenderlich if she had examples of districts going from turf to grass: “I’d love to see those.”

Julian Gieberhaus, a junior at Pleasantville High School and a member of both the cross-country and track and field teams, urged the board to consider replacing the track in the next proposed capital project. The track was installed in 2015.

“I can personally attest to the degradation of the track over the years. Pieces of rubber can be seen all over the track, the surface has become much harder which increases the risk of injury,” Gieberhaus remarked.

Gieberhaus also said the district could be subject to liability or negligence if a serious injury occurred.

“The district is looking into replacing the surface of the track at the time the fields get done,” Busch told Gieberhaus.

Bundling Certain Items
Five-year village resident Peter Damilatis inquired about whether one of the hot-button issues could be omitted from the next proposed bond.

“If everyone is against the turf, can we just have a capital project and not have the turf be part of it?” Damilatis asked. “Then everything else is good and we can figure out a new plan for the turf.”

Busch reiterated the approach applied to last year’s bond: “It’s more efficient if we bundle as many things as we can because we apply to the SED (State Education Department) for approval to do the entire project.”

Jonathan Cunningham, who for the last five months has been on the Facilities Committee and the Fields and Lighting Subcommittee, also suggested the upcoming bond break out specific hot-button items.

“Let the community vote on them individually,” Cunningham said. “You didn’t do it for last year’s bond. This time we need to update the security systems and the Bedford Road School playground, the track and turf.”

Cunningham expressed frustration over the absence of an updated strategic plan, which could help the Facilities Committee determine the district’s overall needs. He added that the Facilities and Subcommittees were not notified about the community forum.

“We weren’t invited in to discuss the agenda,” Cunningham said. “You have 19 community members dedicated to doing this and they spent hours in multiple meetings. Give us the common courtesy by letting us know when you want to go public with this stuff.”

Support for STEAM
Village resident Eve Wolf, who has two children in the district, said she was concerned about how spaces were being shared between sport activities and STEAM.

“One of the issues is that facilities have dual needs between sports and STEAM, and sports always gets prioritized,” she said.

Busch told Wolf that the subcommittee was assessing the availability of space and how it was being used: “It’s something that is being looked into. We’re not blind to the issue.”

The board anticipates discussing the timing of a vote at the upcoming Aug. 5 school board meeting, where agenda items include a capital project timeline and the strategic plan. The meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the Pleasantville High School Library Media Center.