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The Frewsburg Central School District might be asking local residents this spring to approve a capital improvement project.
On Thursday during the Frewsburg Central School District Board of Education meeting, Shelly O'Boyle, Frewsburg superintendent, discussed the possibility of a capital project vote in May. The discussion started by O'Boyle talking about how the district's architect, Young and Wright Architectural, recently completed the building condition survey, which details how much life is left in different aspects of each school facility. She said the survey will be used to determine the most needed items for the district's next capital project. She also said 2021 is the next planned year for a capital project in the district, which is done every five years.
O'Boyle said items that could possible be included in a capital project would be pool renovation, improving district parking lots, new air conditioning unit for the middle/high school, a Americans With Disabilities Act approved lift for the stage in the cafeteria/auditorium at Robert H. Jackson Elementary School, new floor tiles in the 1994 addition at the elementary school and renovating the classrooms in the "kindergarten" hallway. She also said there are cracks that need to be fixed in the school's outdoor running track. However, she is worried about including improvements to the pool and the track in the same capital project.
"We have a lot of academic space that needs remodeled, so to have a project go heavy toward athletics doesn't seem prudent or responsible," she said.
O'Boyle also said three rooftop HVAC units need to be replaced. She said the units will stop working in the near future, so the district can either pay 100% of the bill or they can be included in a capital project with the state funding 93.5% of the cost.
"Those rooftop units are going to go at some time. We also know we can't get parts (to fix them)," she said.
O'Boyle told the board this is just the preliminary outline of items that might be included in a capital project and not the final list. She said the estimated cost to do all the items on the preliminary list would be $8.3 million. She added that school district officials will need to reduce the overall project to $5.6 million to $6 million before the final list is determined.
"We're still in the process of working through the whole scope of the project," she said.
In other business, O'Boyle told the board the school district was not classified as fiscally distressed this year. In 2020, the district made the state Comptroller's Office list of a fiscally distressed district. The district made the list last year because of its schedule of budgetary transfers. O'Boyle said district officials made sure to do the filing on time so the district wouldn't reappear on the Comptroller's Office list.