Niagara Wheatfield voters approve $37,75 million capital project

by Ralph Schwarz
Niagara Wheatfield Tribune, Nov. 24, 2004

Residents in the Niagara Wheatfield school district approved a $37.75 million capital project in a special vote last Wednesday.

By a clear majority, 63.3 percent of the voters supported the multi-million project, which includes the expansion and renovations to school buildings throughout the districts. According to official results, 923 ballots were cast for and 540 against the proposition.

“This was the largest margin I’ve seen in the 10 years I’ve been here,” said District Business Executive Kerin Dumphrey. “Usually, the votes are very close. Most of our budgets pass by 100 votes or less.”

Although only 8.6 percent of approximately 17,000 eligible voters came out to the polling place at Errick Road Elementary School in Wheatfield, Dumphrey regarded it as a success that 1,463 votes were cast.

“Whenever you get more than 1,400 people out to vote, it is a success,” he said. “Obviously, we would like more voters like that, but it is still above average. Overall, we are pleasantly surprised that so many people came out and voted.”

The capital project addresses the upgrade and expansion of three school buildings -- Senior High School, Edward Town Middle School and West Street Elementary School -- over a five-year span to accommodate enrollment increases. The project also includes the purchase of 46-acre property adjacent to the Middle School to provide space for new athletic fields and a new school building, if needed.

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, District Superintendent Dr. Judith Howard stated at a school board meeting in October.

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.

Project Needs State Approval

The project now needs to receive approval by the state Education Department, before the school district can solicit and award bids to contractors. Dumphrey said that he expects the state decision within the next 12 months.

“Once we receive approval from the state, we plan to have the bids awarded by January 2006 and begin with the construction as soon as the weather permits,” he said, adding that all renovations and upgrades are expected to be completed by the summer of 2007.

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 on the grounds 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.

School Board Meets

At its Nov. 17 meeting, which took place during the capital project vote, the school board unanimously voted:

• To approve, upon recommendation of the superintendent, one budget transfer as submitted.

• 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 Lisa Ohol, Spanish teacher at the Senior High School, effective Nov. 29 through June 30, 2005; and the appointment of Kathryn Malstrom as part-time teacher aide at Colonial Village Elementary School, effective Nov. 15.

• To approve, upon recommendation of the superintendent, three field trip requests as submitted.

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

Next Meeting

The Board of Education will hold its next meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 1, at 7 p.m. at West Street Elementary School, 5700 West St., Sanborn.