Theresa Fall's Letter to the Editor 01/21/10: Configured for Learning

I'm voting yes for the New Paltz middle school because it is the right thing to do for health, safety, energy efficiency, environment, dollars and sense, and the education of the children in our school district now and for generations to come.

Vote yes because it is right for the health of staff and students, because right now there are significant air-quality and heating issues. There are parts of the building and educational programs that are not accessible to the disabled and temporarily injured. The proposed project will resolve these issues, and the new middle school will be CHPS certified. (More detail here: www.chps.net Collaborative for High Performance, "Better Buildings. Better Students.")

Vote yes because it is right because our middle school is an illogical maze, and emergency situations like lockdowns and evacuations take much too long. The configurations for the new buildings will be much safer.

Vote yes because it is right for energy efficiency and the environment. Currently the building is a fossil-fuel nightmare. The new building will be a U.S. Green Council LEED-certified, green building. It will include alternative energy sources, including solar and geothermal. (More detail here: http://npcsdms.edublogs.org/files/2010/01/16091201-High-Performance-Opportunities-Costs-Matrix.pdf)

Vote yes because it is right for dollars and sense because of the four alternatives - no nothing, only do repairs, renovate the historic 1930s structure and rebuild the classroom wings on the current site, or build new at the high school site - it is the most cost-effective plan.

Doing nothing is not an option because it jeopardizes the use of the facilities and a 2005 building survey deemed this school in need of major renovations. Only doing repairs makes no sense. It is throwing good money at bad. Its price tag of $10 million every ten years will not systematically resolve any of the educational, health, safety, ADA-compliance, or energy-efficiency issues. It is not a viable option and could easily end up costing more.

Building new is estimated to cost $15 to $20 million more than renovating at the current location, and the community has spoken loud and clear that it wants to keep our last remaining community school in the village.

But most of all vote yes because we need a middle school that is built and configured for contemporary learning. It is our responsibility to educate students for success in this century. In the current building there are not enough outlets for computers, let alone high-speed Internet access.

Right now, on average, classroom size is 30% under current state requirements, and this will be rectified with the proposed plan. Team, interdisciplinary teaching with the new "house" classroom configuration in the plan makes sense for modern education. At a minimum, the proposed more rational design will provide an additional 25 minutes of instructional time every day!

For all these reasons, the only way right way to vote is yes for the middle school on February 9 at the high school from noon to 9 p.m.

Theresa Fall
Chair, New Paltz GreenWorks
New Paltz