A special vote will be held on Deccember 14th, at the Wayne Central High School High School gymnasium between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. to decide on the District’s proposed Facilities Preservation Project.
The district began a long range plan with an advisory team, made up of parents, Board of Education members, teachers and administrators, to address capital improvements on all 5 district building.
Needs included building upgrades for health, safety and preservation, and after all items in each building were addressed, the team prioritized the projects. The final proposal presented at several meeting, and spelled out in newsletters to the Wayne Central taxpayers, will come in at $14,871,896. That amount will come in the form of $4,000 from a district Capital Reserve fund, $864,921 from E.X.C.E.L. (Expanding Our Children’s education and Learning) aid and $10,006,97 from New York State aid.
The district has stressed that with these funding sources, the taxpayers will not see a tax impact to complete the work required.
“This is a solid proposal with no local tax increase as far as school taxes,” said Wayne Superintendent of School Renee Garrett. “We have offered many building tours and have been open and transparent with the district building needs and we hope voters will see the proposal as addressing basic health, safety and preservation issues,” added Garrett.
The breakdown of the spending will include $1,637,525 at the Ontario Primary School for emergency generator update, repair of windows and heating system, upgrading of parking lot lighting, classroom restrooms and flooring repair/upgrades.
At the Ontario Elementary, $1,895,613 will used for roof replacement on a 1986 addition, emergency generator upgrade, fire alarm system, repair and upgrades in the mechanical room, climate control, security camera updates, restroom upgrades, replacement of kitchen heater, and reworking of the entrance to a passive restraint entry system for the safety of the students.
At the Freewill Elementary School, the spending portion will be $1,794,981. This spending will include updates/upgrades to the emergency generator, fire alarm system, kitchen heater, exterior building masonry, gym floor, kitchen ventilation and equipment, exit signage, coat hooks in the hallways.
At the Thomas Armstrong Middle School, $3,675,990 of the plan will be used for upgrades/repair of classroom doors, emergency generator, fire alarm system, windows, main water supply piping, boilers, pumps, sanitary sewer lines, kitchen ventilation, walk in freezers and surplus freezers, electric boilers, kitchen serving lines, lockers, and improved traffic flow.
At the James A. Beneway High School the funds used will be $5,368,566. Upgrades/repair include: emergency generator, fire alarm systems, windows, supply and waste water piping, circulating pumps, condensate pumps, gym bleachers, concession stand, security cameras, gym sound system, electric panels, entryway, delaminating tile and providing a passive restraint entry system at the front doorway for student safety. The kitchen also needs a lot of work on booster heaters.
District wide, the public address system is antiquated and must be updated, roof work is necessary, the clock systems no longer keep accurate time, there are unpaved exit areas, and the driveways and parking lot are cracked and in need of work. Some items at the Bus Garage are also in need of repair. Anyone with further questions before the December 14th vote, are encouraged to visit the district’s website at www.wayne.k12.ny.us.
