This is not about turf athletic fields. That is only 12 percent of the proposed referendum. This is about safety, upgrading, improving and modernizing our aging district high school buildings and facilities that are 50, 60, 80 years old.
It is about increasing the values of our school system, the educational experience of our children, our community, and our property.
The Sewanhaka Central High School District Board of Education will hold a bond referendum vote on Dec.4. This referendum would allow the district to issue debt to bring the district’s high schools’ infrastructure into the 21st century.
The district’s excellent financial position will allow borrowing at favorable interest rates, and approximately 40 percent of the debt will be covered and reimbursed by State aid. This will allow the district to proactively plan and schedule urgent, long-needed, and long-lasting capital improvements and upgrades, which will avoid inefficient stop-gap and short-term emergency repairs, for which the district would receive no state aid.
A committee was formed in October 2012 with representatives from each school community – New Hyde Park, Franklin Square, Elmont, and Floral Park/Sewanhaka. The plan calls for renovations to seven buildings and athletic fields within the five-component district, improving energy efficiency, roofing, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, upgrading technology and security, and constructing new gyms, cafeterias, music rooms, and auditoriums. The bond referendum, if passed, would fund the planned improvements to begin at the same time, providing equity to the students of each community.
Once again, the vote is Wednesday, Dec. 4th from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Residents are to vote at the school for which they are zoned. I urge you to vote for the bond referendum on Dec. 4.
Julius Picardi
