Capital Reserve Proposition Takes Shape

While Huntington School Board members have not taken any final action, the outlines of a possible capital reserve fund proposition are coming into focus in the Huntington School District.

Superintendent James W. Polansky has outlined $2,650,500 worth of needed projects in the district that officials would like to see included in a May 20 proposition. Monies for the work already exist and are set aside in a reserve fund created by residents to cover the cost of such projects. The district will not need to borrow or incur any interest expenses should a proposition pass.

“We continue to address the needs outlined in our five-year capital plan, with a 2014-15 focus on the district’s technological/network infrastructure and the second phase of the Huntington High School parking lot,” Mr. Polansky said. “Among other things, our planned infrastructure upgrades will improve server performance and increase Wi-Fi access and efficiency in an effort to best address the district’s instructional and communication needs. Improvements to the condition and structure of the high school parking lot are also a priority. As is the case with capital projects each year, they are funded using monies already existing in the district’s capital reserve fund. This will have no impact on the tax levy or tax rates.”

The estimated cost of the projects under consideration by district trustees is as follows:

Huntington High School

·   Phase II of parking field reconstruction: $1,300,000

Districtwide

·   Computer Network and Technology Upgrade: $1,250,000

Nathaniel Woodhull Intermediate School

·   Replacement of interior doors, locks and related hardware: $100,000

Total: $2,650,000

The high school parking lot is being reconstructed in sections to allow for utilization of the building during the summer months, when the work is done. The main lot has not been paved in decades and is slowly crumbling. The work involves removing the current asphalt, installing a new aggregate base gravel and pavement over it. New curbing will also be installed. The work will also address any drainage problems that exist.

The computer network and technology upgrade will involve an overhaul of the current server infrastructure in the Huntington High School data center, which serves as the district’s hub. The work will provide teachers, students and administrative staff with more available and secure computing services, leveraging state-of-the-art technologies.

The proposal includes the expansion of the current wireless infrastructure in individual school buildings to cover gap areas and an upgrade of existing equipment with new and more reliable technologies supporting present and future initiatives.

The local area network (LAN) upgrade project will allow the district to address current and future growth needs, increasing performance, security and manageability.

Most of Woodhull’s interior doors, locks and hardware date to the school’s construction in 1965/66. The building opened to students in late January 1967 upon the closure of Roosevelt Elementary School, which stood south of where Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School is now located. Roosevelt was demolished during the town’s Urban Renewal program and the school’s three acre site was enlarged to about 13 acres through eminent domain. Huntington Elementary School was then constructed to the north of the Roosevelt site.

The monies in the capital reserve fund represent dollars already provided to the district by taxpayers that, because of tight fiscal management and economizing, weren’t needed to pay for regular school operations. The source of the funding is the annual transfer of surplus monies from the district’s general fund.