Schools

Capital Plan Bond Vote Overwhelmingly Passes

Voters approved the Bedford Central School District's roughly $31.8 million capital plan bond vote by a large margin, according to results provided.

The vote passed with 1,197 votes in favor and 628 against.

In response, Superintendent Jere Hochman wrote the following: "After three years of looking at building conditions, community engagement, public opinion research, citizens committees, and Board presentations, we pared this plan to the point that it was a match to district needs and community expectations. It feels good to be able to move forward!"

The capital plan is a collection of major building and infrastructural fixes at six of the district's seven schools.

The buildings that will receive the most extensive work are West Patent Elementary School (it is in the photo for this story, as a Patch historical photo), which has a cost of $14,291,840, and Fox Lane Middle School at $6,695,015.

West Patent's work will include replacement of the exterior facade, roof, windows, ceiling and lighting, along with the creation of two new internal classrooms in the upper-school wing that will be built in currently open space. There will also be exit and bathroom upgrades made for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The middle school project will involve gutting and replacing the science labs, which the district says were built in the 1960s, and in renovating the lobbies of the house buildings. Other measures include roof replacement, an expansion of the cafeteria, which the district says has a capacity problem and would also have a multi-purpose use, along with ADA-compliance improvements for water coolers and teachers' space. There would also be an elevator installed for the gym, which also has an disabilities accommodation purpose.

The Fox Lane campus will receive several big upgrades, including replacements of the old track and turf field and of the water delivery infrastructure.

A series of additional roof replacements are included in the plan. They are for Fox Lane High School, Bedford Village Elementary School, Bedford Hills Elementary School and Pound Ridge Elementary School. The only school that is not included in the capital plan is Mount Kisco Elementary School, which is not due for any major work.

Work on the capital plan has been ongoing for several years, including input from a committee and revision of the cost and scope, including a reduction from roughly $75 million to the current price.

Approval of the capital plan means that the school district faces several further steps, Assistant Superintendent for Business Mark Betz recently explained. Once approval is granted, the contracts with involved firms need to be consummated and there will be a design phase. Additionally, a facilitates advisory committee, which is usually made up of school board members, citizens and administration, will meet throughout the project, he stated recently.

The district would then submit its work to the New York State Education Department (SED), which must give approval.

Betz has expected work to start in summer 2014 and take place in phases over multiple years. The whole plan could be concluded by either the fall of 2016 or early winter, he stated.

The district's results by polling place, which is for each elementary school attendance area were also provided:

School                                           Yes       No
Bedford Hills Elementary School:      173      92
West Patent Elementary School:       254      65
Pound Ridge Elementary School:      247      175
Mount Kisco Elementary School:       224      94
Bedford Village Elementary School:   299      202


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