Ossining Board Moves Forward With Bond Proposal
The Ossining Board of Education voted unanimously last Wednesday to put a capital improvements bond proposal before the voters on March 6.
The proposal, which cuts nearly $30 million from the original plan proposed in the fall, addresses only the district’s most critical infrastructure and program needs, and most important, keeps debt service at current levels. As a result, there will be no increase in taxes from current levels to support this project.
“With this proposal, we are striking a balance between those who wanted to do considerably more in the schools and those who sought to scale back the plan,” said Dr. Phyllis Glassman, superintendent of Ossining schools. “This plan is both educationally and fiscally responsible and preserves one of the community’s greatest resources, its schools.”
Bill Kress, president of the Board of Education, agreed. “We are extremely grateful to the community members, both those who supported and those who opposed last spring’s proposal, for taking the time to share their priorities and concerns with us as we worked to develop this community compromise,” he said.
The board reduced the initial plan by $12.9 million by deciding to have the fifth grade remain at Roosevelt School where administrative offices will be consolidated and moved to make room for additional classroom space. This eliminates the need for an expansion at Claremont School.
At Anne M. Dorner Middle School, interior renovations such as consolidating locker rooms, the library and the front office, will allow for the creation of six additional classrooms – all while keeping the building’s existing footprint. To address overcrowding in the cafeteria at AMD, the cafeteria will be expanded into the music rooms on the first floor. At the same time, the music rooms will be moved to the second floor where outdated, stepped lecture classrooms will be converted into music space.
At Ossining High School science classrooms will be added to allow an increased enrollment to the district’s award-winning science program.
In other areas, the proposed capital improvements plan will enable the district to save money by improving energy efficiency and avoiding costly emergency repairs. For example, aging boilers in all but one of the district’s six schools would be replaced with new energy efficient models that permit the burning of gas or fuel.
In addition to other critical infrastructure needs such as repairing the brickwork at AMD, replacing the broken ventilation system in the OHS auditorium and replacing single-pane windows that allow heat loss and drive up fuel costs, the proposal seeks to address life safety issues. Exit signs, emergency lights, fire-rated doors and stairwell enclosures are needed to keep children safe and meet state building codes.
The public will vote on the bond proposition during a special election on March 6.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.