Members of the Broadalbin-Perth Board of Education adopted a $39,747,942 capital project proposal during their regular monthly meeting, Monday, March 21. If approved by voters during a May 17 referendum, the project would address health and safety concerns and urgent infrastructure needs, modernize learning spaces, and create operational efficiencies.
District officials are projecting that state building aid would pay for approximately 80 percent of the project and the remaining 20 percent would be the local share. The Board of Education has committed to applying savings from the Perth solar project, an estimated $5.3 million over 25 years, toward the local share. Based on these figures, the district’s financial advisor estimates that the owner of a home with a full-market value of $100,000 with the Basic STAR exemption would see an increase of between $48 and $52 on his September 2020 tax bill; the owner of a similar home with the Enhanced STAR exemption would see an increase of between $22 and $25 on his September 2020 tax bill.
Highlights of the proposed project include:
- Expanding parking and redesigning traffic flow at both campuses to improve safety.
- Replacing certain windows and sections of flooring and roofing that are damaged and past their useful life at both campuses.
- Replacing energy management systems at both campuses, which are more than 40 years old and for which replacement parts are unavailable.
- Replacing the telephone, clock and public address systems at both campuses, which are more than 40 years old and beginning to fail.
- Reorganizing the schools so that students in pre-K through grade 6 will attend school at the Perth campus and students in grades 7-12 will attend school at the Broadalbin campus, which would limit to one the number of transitions students make between schools, as well as improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the academic program by having one elementary and one secondary location.
- Renovating and modernizing classrooms to bring all learning spaces up to a common standard.
- Constructing new, secure entrances at the Perth campus (elementary entrance) and Broadalbin campus (middle school and high school entrances).
- Creating multipurpose “Innovation Wings” at both campuses using existing classroom space.
- Renovating the cafeteria at the Perth campus.
- Dividing the current middle school gymnasium to create an elementary performance space and an elementary gymnasium.
- Constructing a new high school media center on the second story of the high school entrance, which would be an interactive, technology-based center of information as opposed to a traditional library.
- Constructing a transition corridor to connect what would be the middle school (currently The Learning Community) to the high school auxiliary gymnasium, which would become the middle school gym.
- Relocating the district offices to the current high school media center, which would free up space at the current district offices for auto tech classrooms.
- Rehabilitating athletic fields, including replacing the 12-year-old turf field at Patriot Field and resurfacing the track.
- Constructing a building with restrooms, locker rooms, storage and concessions behind the home bleachers at Patriot Field.
- Constructing a building with restrooms and concessions between the varsity baseball and softball fields.
Additionally, Broadalbin-Perth would use its $1,385,510 Smart Schools Bond allocation to construct a prekindergarten pod with five classrooms and a common area at the Perth campus. This construction is not included in the capital project total and is completely paid for by New York state.
Residents are invited to learn more about the capital project proposal during an upcoming public presentation; unless noted, all presentations begin at 6 p.m. in the high school Virtual AP Room, next to the media center:
- Monday, March 28 – Presentation on “Innovate,” B-P’s comprehensive plan
- Monday, April 4 – Presentation to the B-P Education Foundation (public welcome)
- Tuesday, April 19 – Capital project forum
- Monday, May 2 – Presentation to the PTO (TLC Media Center; public welcome)
- Tuesday, May 10 – Presentation on the budget proposal (Margaret Robin Blowers Auditorium at BPHS)
The district is also preparing a publication about the proposal that will be mailed to all households. Information will also be posted to the district website and shared on the district’s Facebook and Twitter pages and through the district’s mobile app, which is available for Apple and Android smartphones and tablets.
Residents are invited to submit questions about the capital project proposal to district communications specialist Michele Kelley at kelleym@bpcsd.org, or anonymously through Patriot Plain Talk. Residents may also contact Kelley with requests for presentations to be made to their community groups.