Superintendent updates Board on schools’ capital projects

BY RIKKI MASSAND

In his July 6 report to the Syosset Board of Education, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Thomas Rogers explained that summer time provides the opportunity for the Syosset Central School District “to get as much construction done as we possibly can.”

That said, the district does not have as extensive a construction schedule as in recent summers. The school district is now reaching the tail end of the last round of capital borrowing and facilities upgrades.

“Some projects we are doing that will be visible to our community will be things like our Syosset High School tennis courts’ resurfacing. We tried to do a resurfacing to extend the life of the courts that were there, and we managed to get five more years out of the playing surface but because they had more significant problems it was time to refurbish them completely,” Dr. Rogers noted.

Masonry and brick repointing work on school buildings will also be evident for those coming to or passing the schools. Dr. Rogers spoke about the need to keep the school buildings water-tight so condensation and water infiltration do not degrade the exteriors further.

The main court of the Harry B. Thompson Middle School gym is being refurbished, and both middle schools’ gyms will see their wooden partitions (down the middle) removed.

“In the long run this will save us money because the wooden partitions are a hazard, we have to do extra work with these partitions every year to make sure they are certified so they aren’t hazardous to people in the gym. By removing them we eliminate the hazard and eliminate the annual inspections,” Dr. Rogers told the board of education at the July 6 meeting.

HBT Middle School’s parking lot is also being addressed. At South Woods Middle School, wall mats of the auxiliary gym are being changed up.

At Robbins Lane Elementary the outdoor basketball court is being upgraded.

Dr. Rogers added that both middle schools are having work done on their cafeteria lines “to make them a little bit more modern, but also to improve the flow so kids spend less time waiting for food and more time eating their food.”

With another capital project plan, the district is awaiting approval by the New York State Education Department for conversion of a large room at Syosset High School into classrooms. If approved, the conversion would create one more classroom.

“The board knows how we’ve experienced a surge in enrollment, particularly in the summer of 2021. We are now adjusting with that enrollment level as it moves through the district so we’re trying to identify new spaces for instruction, particularly at the high school,” Superintendent Rogers said.

Tax Levies for Schools and Library set

Board of Education business for the July 6 meeting, Syosset CSD’s first of the 2023-2024 school year, included establishing the school and public library tax levies for this year. The grand total for both tax amounts (raised by local taxes) is $227,483,201.

The resolution approved by the Board of Education noted, “Whereas, the 20232024 district budget in the amount of $274,562,660 has been approved and the budget for the public library of the district in the amount of $8,228,736 has been approved…resolved, that the school tax levy for school purposes of Syosset Central School District be set at $219,572,465 plus an additional sum of $7,910,736 for the budget of the public library of the district.”

At the school board’s July meeting Superintendent Rogers spoke about the beginning of summer school on Wednesday July 5, with 825 students enrolled in this session.

“Summer School is off to a brisk start with 45 classes for the 825 students attending. This is another banner year for summer school, and as the board knows last year we went through an extensive process of reworking the summer school curriculum for two reasons – one, to refresh it and make it more engaging and exciting for kids, and two, in recognition of some of the learning challenges that students experienced during the Covid-19 crisis. We wanted to make sure we offered a robust curriculum for summer school that would help them make up for any losses they experienced,” Dr. Rogers explained.