WI School District Bond Construction Approaching Completion

Nearly three years after West Islip voters approved the school district's proposed $22.7 million bond to cover multiple renovation and construction projects at its nine school, most of the work has been completed.

Over the past two summers as students and teachers left local schools, construction crews were busy completing various projects including boiler replacements, parking lot re-pavements and the installation of new locker rooms at the high school and both middle schools.

James Bosse, Plant Facilities manager and director of Building and Grounds for the West Islip School District, said that local residents could expect 90 percent of the work to be done within the next two weeks. 

"All in all, it was very difficult to finish all the work this summer in time, but we did succeed," he said. "Everything, more or less, is done. There are some minor delays, such as the locker rooms and certain areas, but overall it's very good."

Bosse noted that a large portion of the bond went toward re-pavement projects. The drop-off zone at the high school was recently repaved and Masera School received what Bosse termed a "total renovation." In addition, all other schools received external work. 

"Elementary schools got new parking lots, or curbs, or sidewalks, or a combination of that," he said.  "Between last summer and this summer, all of them were affected."

Bosse said that most of the construction was an infrastructure upgrade, but it was only a matter of time until safety became an issue. "When the concrete starts to settle and crack and curbs go bad they need to be replaced. If there's a traffic flow problem in the building, then there's always an issue with safety. We reconfigured a lot of that so that it's safer and new."

While residents could easily see many of the exterior construction work being done at schools over the past two summers, there was a great deal of internal work done as well, some of which Bosse said should enhance the classroom learning experience.

One of the most noticeable changes seen in the classrooms are the new the dry-erase boards, which replaced chalkboards across the district. "Now we have whiteboards with dry-erase markers, so there's no chalk dust in the air, and there's greater visibility for the students," Bosse said. "It's easier to see black on white. It improves the visual learning experience too. It may not seem like a big deal, but it does help out."

The cost of the construction and renovations didn't exceed the full amount of the bond, but an exact number of remaining dollars has yet to be determined. 

"The management of the projects by the bond committee has been excellent, and there will be funds left to add additional projects," said Annmarie LaRosa, vice president of the West Islip Board of Education. "What those projects are, and exactly how much money will be available, have not been determined just yet. I do expect to discuss this matter at upcoming meetings with the full board."

Bosse said considerations for the remaining money could potentially go toward smartboards, additional bathroom renovations, athletic field storage buildings, and security cameras.

Aside from the construction bond, the district also has an ongoing $7 million energy performance contract (EPC) with Johnson Controls Inc., which will improve energy efficiency in each of the schools.  Such updates will include new lighting, solar panels, more efficient pumps and motors among various other energy improvements. 

"Were going to spend $7 million a year to improve our buildings for efficiency," he said.  "Our bills are going to go down, and because they are down, we'll have available money left in our existing budget to pay that loan.  So we're going to get $7 million worth of improvements for no additional cost of the budget."

And while the improvements should make each building more workable for students and staff, the bond issue, approved back in October 2007, is also good news for local taxpayers.

"[The bond] was approved by school district residents but will cost them nothing," Bosse said.  "It was all EXCEL aid, state aid, and building aid that was available from Albany. So we had more or less $22 million worth of work to do between last summer and this summer, and it's almost all complete."