Bedford Schools Poised to Present Major Facilities Bond in Spring
A potential $70 million referendum to upgrade all of the Bedford School District’s buildings and to reconfigure space at the middle and high schools for modern education is likely to be scheduled for this spring.
School officials are prepared to hold the proposition in May, the same day as the budget vote and Board of Education election. Extensive infrastructure improvements throughout the district would also be part of the plan at an estimated $24.9 million, including work at each of the five elementary schools.
The project could also include connectors to enclose the exterior stairwells at Fox Lane Middle School, which is prone to deterioration from being exposed to the elements, said Kevin Walsh of BBS Architects, the firm designing the plans for the district.
A proposed redesign of interior spaces at the middle school and Fox Lane High School would alter the traditional hallway corridors, Walsh explained.
The middle school could see reconfigured open areas that would integrate wellness and fitness with the cafeteria, for example, while grouping music instructional spaces on the second floor and STEAM subjects on the third level. There could also be connectors to the school’s houses and an emphasis on outdoor learning spaces.
Walsh said that it will be critical to have adaptable buildings, particularly at the middle school and high school.
“When it comes to spatial-educational projects, we’re not just looking at capacity, we’re looking at adapting your facilities to the evolving activity of learning and how can the buildings help support that and not contain it,” he said.
At the high school, there would be similar concepts of adapting first-floor space from a linear connection to a design that better connects the library, cafeteria, physical education and wellness with science, STEM and art, Walsh said.
“You have this idea of different types of spaces and different types of opportunities than the traditional, and it’s not that the traditional just goes away, it’s a combination, it’s a balance of traditional and innovative,” Walsh explained.
Extensive improvements to the campus’s athletic facilities have also been proposed
In January and February, the board will need to pare down nearly $100 million worth of projects that have been reviewed by the architects into a final plan by the first meeting in March.
District officials will also be faced with the task of convincing residents that improvement to the district’s facilities is required. Age and use have contributed to the need for improvements to the athletic facilities and infrastructure work, said board Vice President Edward Reder.
“If they haven’t been in our buildings for even a couple of years, they may not understand the current state that they’re in,” Reder said.
Aside from the large scope of work, bonding up to $70 million would have no impact on the tax rate, according to Walsh. That is a result of a large bond that is maturing in 2023 and another in 2026.
Board member Robert Mazurek said he would be in favor of the district doing as much work as possible now because many of the improvements are needed and interest rates are poised to rise.
“What we learned from the community members on this is that there’s a lot of interest and concern about, including myself, to get as much money as we can now because interest rates are at historic lows and they’re rising too fast,” Mazurek said.
“So I support going for a bond referendum in the spring and running these scenarios through (the district’s financial services adviser) Capital Markets and getting as much money as we can as soon as possible because we’re going to need the money, we’re going to need the $25 million for repairs and we can do a lot of good things, and should do, to keep up competitively as well.”
A bond would be part of an ongoing district Master Plan that includes a series of five-year plans and a projection for another significant referendum in 2033, Walsh said.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/