School district to hold informational forum
on capital project

by Ralph Schwarz
Niagara Wheatfield Tribune, Oct. 28, 2004

Residents living in the Niagara Wheatfield school district will have the chance tonight to find out about a proposed $37.75 million capital project that will see the renovation and expansion of three school buildings in the district over a five-year span.

Hosted by School Superintendent Dr. Judith Howard and school board President Michael Murawski at Edward Town Middle School at 7 p.m., the informational meeting will feature design studies, artist renderings and blueprints of the proposed upgrades and additions proposed for the Senior High School, Edward Town Middle School and West Street Elementary School. Howard and Murawski will also answer any questions concerning the project.

The meeting is the second of three community forums hosted by the school. The third and final meeting will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. in the cafeteria at West Street Elementary.

Howard said she hopes that parents and residents will take advantage of the meeting.

“At our last open forum [on Oct. 13 at Errick Road Elementary], we only had myself, Mike Murawski and [board members] Karen Sirgey and Maureen Kaus,” she said. “No one else showed.”

Vote Set For Nov. 17

Residents in the school district will vote on the project on Wednesday, Nov. 17. If approved, the proposed project needs to receive approval by the state Education Department before the school district can solicit and award bids to contractors. According to the timetable presented by Canon Design of Grand Island, the engineering firm overseeing the project, construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2006 to allow for the completion of all renovations and upgrades by the summer of 2007.

Despite the disappointing turnout at the first forum, Howard said that most parents appeared to think positive about the proposed project.

“I heard very positive commentaries from parents who attended the open house events at the different schools,” she said. “There were no objections. I hope this is a good sign.”

The proposed upgrades to the three schools will provide the classroom space necessary to accommodate the rising number of students. The design plans call for the addition of up to 15 new classrooms at the Middle School and up to six new classrooms at the Senior High School.

Proposed Upgrades

The classroom additions became necessary after the district experienced a significant increase in student enrollment due to the continuing growth in the town of Wheatfield. Over the last 10 years, the number of Wheatfield students in the district increased by 37 percent from 1,382 in 1994 to 1,896 in 2004. School officials expect more than 500 students to come to the Niagara Wheatfield school district within the next 10 years. This year alone, the Senior High School experienced an increase of 76 students, its highest in 20 years.

The project will also include the reconfiguration of traffic patterns and parking space at the Senior High and Middle School, the purchase of 47 acres of land next to the Middle School for new athletic fields and a future building, if needed. It will also address building code, health and safety issues at the three school buildings, as well as repair and maintenance work at the Errick Road and Colonial Village elementary schools.

Limited Tax Impact

According to the spending plan devised by the school district, New York state will cover 76 percent, or $27.93 million, of the project’s expenses, leaving the district with only a $9.81 million expense. With the state aid, the district could hold the projected tax impact to less than 1 percent per year for the next five years, Howard said.

“Funding the project at such a favorable aid ratio will allow Niagara Wheatfield to remain with the lowest tax rates of any district in Niagara County,” she said.

District officials estimated that the annual tax increase will amount to $10.40 per year for homeowners with an assessed property value of $60,000. Homeowners with an assessed property value of $100,000 would see an increase of $17.40 per year on their school taxes.

Last January, the school board authorized a committee to study the impact of growth within the Niagara Wheatfield school district and to investigate the necessity to construct a new school building to accommodate the increased student body. After evaluating its findings, the committee rejected the idea of building a new school and the realignment of the grade levels at the current schools, saying that the anticipated costs would place a financial burden on the school district and provide only a limited amount of state aid.

Under the current proposal, more than 96 percent of the project’s costs are eligible for state aid.

Agenda Items

At its Oct. 20 meeting, the school board unanimously voted:

• To approve, upon recommendation of the superintendent, the action items of granting resignations, retirements, appointments, leaves of absences, and other miscellaneous items for administrative, instructional and school-related personnel as submitted.

Those items included the leave of absence of Nicole DiFilippo, an elementary teacher at Errick Road Elementary, effective Oct. 22 to Jan. 28, 2005; and the resignations of Andrea Letcher and Gary Chimera as co-musical directors at Edward Town Middle School for the 2004-05 school year.

• To approve, upon recommendation of the superintendent, the late private/parochial requests as submitted.

• To approve, upon recommendation of the superintendent, the fund-raiser requests as submitted.

Next Meeting

The Board of Education will hold its next meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 3, at 7:30 p.m.