The Mineola School Board confirmed Thursday that it will hold a public vote on Nov. 10 to tap its capital reserve to fund $7 million in improvements at the Hampton Street and Mineola High schools. The plan calls to install turf fields at Hampton Stadium and at the high school.
The reserve was created in 2011. Money that goes unspent remains in the reserve and can’t be utilized without voter approval.
Should the public vote against the project, funds would stay in the reserve. The vote will take place at the Jackson Avenue and Meadow Drive schools.
“We set up a capital reserve with voter permission and funded that reserve,” District Superintendent Michael Nagler said. “That means we saved money over the last two years, put it in a “savings account” and now we have to ask the public to spend it.”
The elementary school would gain a new cafeteria, classroom additions and a bus loop along with a new concession stand, running track and field lighting. Mineola High School is slated for a new technology lab, combining metal and wood shop with computer design.
“This is more than a school and more than a field, it’s a comprehensive improvement plan for the district,” trustee Margaret Ballantyne Mannion said. “I hope people will get excited about the scope of the plan.”
A robotics lab would sit at the center of the addition, in an enclosed room. The high school field could see a 382-meter running track surrounding its new field. School reps said the projects would be eligible for New York State aid.
“I like the idea of saving,” School Board President Christine Napolitano said. “It’s nice to put up a wonderful project that benefits so many of our kids.”
“At current rates, a year from now when we’d have to go out and borrow the money to do the projects, we estimate that the interest cost over 15 years to borrow $7 million would be in the $2.5 million range, in interest alone,” said Jack Waters, assistant superintendent for finance and operations. “The fact that we have the money now, there is no interest cost to the community, which allows us to not have to budget for interest. That money can be used otherwise.”
