Facilities Committee discusses potential capital project work that may be placed before voters in 2024

The Warwick Valley Central School District Facilities Committee met on Thursday, December 14, to discuss the necessary capital improvement work that was identified by the District’s Engineer in the current Building Condition Survey that will need to be addressed in the next couple of  years. They also discussed the potential for a capital project community vote in 2024.

Work the committee is considering includes replacement of some roofs on buildings, hardening of internal and external doors and windows in buildings to prevent intrusion, and replacement of the main electrical panel at the high school.

The district has been making ongoing efforts to replace older roofs or sections of roofs of its buildings. The roofs that are in poor condition and need replacement include a partial roof at the high school, a partial roof at Park Avenue Elementary School, the full Pine Island building roof, a partial roof at the Kings building, and the roof over the school district offices. 

The security of students and staff is the school district’s highest priority and making doors and windows at the buildings more secure to prevent intrusion would address this top priority. 

The high school electric panel is more than 70 years old and is at its maximum electric load. With the current electric panel, there is no more capacity to add anything requiring electricity at the high school and parts of the panel are difficult to replace because the panel was made in the 1950s. 

“We have not made a decision yet, of course, but placing a capital project before voters is not something the school district administration or the Board of Education takes lightly,” said Superintendent Dr. David Leach. “These are items needed to make our buildings weather-tight, to keep our students and staff safe in this modern day, and to maintain our electrical operations at the high school.”

The committee had also discussed the capital improvement work on October 19 and is planning to meet again in January to discuss them and the potential for a vote on these capital projects further.