New Paltz Middle School YES!

New Paltz Central School District Seeks Community Input

2010-09-22T07:02:00.000-07:00

Please attend one of the information sessions on 9/23 or 9/27 and/or sign up for one of the stakeholder groups (only a 2-3 meeting commitment!) - it is critical that our voices be heard!

==========

New Paltz Central School District Seeks Community Input
District Issues Open Invitation to Join Comprehensive Facilities Planning Process

New Paltz … The New Paltz Central School District invites district residents, taxpayers, parents and business owners to take part in its Comprehensive Facilities Planning process. To learn more about the process, the public is invited to attend two open enrollment informational meetings this month:

· Thursday, September 23rd at 7:00 PM at New Paltz High School Auditorium

· Monday, September 27th at 7:00 PM at Lenape Elementary Cafeteria

The informational meetings, as well as the entire planning process, will be facilitated by the district’s architecture and engineering consultant, CSArch, of Newburgh, New York. Attendees will learn the goals of the Comprehensive Facilities Planning process, as well as how information, demographics, and ideas from numerous sources will be gathered, compiled, analyzed and shared with the public and the Board of Education.

As part of the process, eight stakeholder groups are currently being formed to represent every facet of the New Paltz Central School District community. Beginning in October, each group will meet up to three times. The forum will provide an opportunity for the public to learn in detail about the state of district facilities, fields and grounds, as well as voice ideas and concerns for the future of district properties.

“The District is creating the Stakeholder Groups to establish open lines of communication and receive clear opinions and ideas from the public,” said Maria Rice, Superintendent of New Paltz Central School District. “It is extremely important that this process is transparent and inclusive so that everyone’s voice is represented in decisions about the future of our school facilities.”

There will be an opportunity to sign-up for a specific Stakeholder Group at the informational meetings. Interested parties can also learn about the process and sign-up to be a part of the Stakeholder Group online at the district’s website at www.newpaltz.k12.ny.us.

Stakeholder groups will include:

· Business Community / Service Organizations (Rotary, Lions Club, etc)

· Parents (includes PTA/PTSA)

· Community at Large

· Senior Citizens

· SUNY New Paltz

· Facility Use Groups (including sports organizations)

· Non-profits (Libraries, Mohonk Preserve, Greenworks, Arts Community)

· Municipalities (7 towns within the district, Law Enforcement, Fire Departments, Highway Department)

Individuals who are associated with the school district, including instructional and non-instructional staff, students, the district’s leadership team, the Health Advisory Committee, the Diversity Committee and the Board Facilities Committee will have an opportunity to provide ideas and feedback directly to CSArch facilitators through Input Committees. These individuals, as well as Board of Education members, are not eligible to serve as part of Stakeholder Groups.

The facilities plan is being carried out as part of the district’s Comprehensive Educational Master Plan. It coincides with requirements by the New York State Education Department for every school district to complete a district-wide Building Conditions Survey. Expenses incurred to complete the planning process are largely reimbursable by New York State.

All meeting minutes and recommendations will be documented on a special section of the district’s website pages entitled “4 Our Schools,” set-up specifically for the Comprehensive Facilities Planning Process. Visit the district’s website at www.newpaltz.k12.ny.us.

More detailed information about the Comprehensive Facilities Planning process will be available at the Open Enrollment Information Meetings and on the website. Please call Paige Lewis at CSArch Architecture |Engineering |Construction Management at (845) 561-3179 with questions about the process.

Seth McKee's Letter to the Editor 02/04/10: Why I am Voting Yes on the Middle School Renovation

2010-02-07T16:47:00.000-08:00

I have been on the fence for the past several months about the proposed New Paltz Middle School renovation. I’ve been listening to the arguments pro and con, and thinking about what this means for the future of New Paltz. I have decided to vote YES to the proposed renovation, and I urge my fellow New Paltz residents to do so as well.

My reasons are pretty straightforward:

1) The school badly needs more than a band-aid fix, and it makes economic sense to make this a partially state-funded capital project, rather than a recurring operational expense that we have to pay for entirely ourselves. I don’t want the school board to have to choose between school infrastructure and teachers in the future – which is what will happen if we muddle along the way we have been for years.

2) Having one of our four public schools located within the village is a great asset. Our kids have one school where they are not totally dependent on school buses or mommy and daddy for transportation. Our daughter learned about New Paltz – and about independence -- by being able to walk into the village with friends after school. In many towns, this is not possible due to the far-flung locations of their schools. We need to value opportunities to get our kids walking and riding their bicycles. The current middle school location delivers this.

3) There have been a lot of numbers thrown around about the cost of this project, but the bottom line for me is this: An average monthly payment of less than $14 per month for the average homeowner. For people with lower than average value homes, the cost will be less.

4) The school board has spent several years researching this fully and conscientiously, with credible professional consultants coming up with the plans. A generous contingency is build into the final number, so the final cost may well end up being less than anticipated. Do I wish the project were less expensive? Of course! But I truly believe that this investment in our community will pay dividends for decades, well beyond the cost of this bond.

5) Some of the most popular places to live in the Hudson Valley also have some of the best school districts, with well-functioning school facilities. I’d like New Paltz to remain one of these. As it stands, my family will only directly benefit from this project for one year. And, our son will be part of the group that has to relocate to the Tillson school for a year. But this investment will continue to make New Paltz a place of choice to live and raise a family in, and this will help our quality of life and our property values.

6) This decision is not a choice between a $14 per month increase in our taxes, or zero increase. If we don’t renovate comprehensively, we will be faced with ongoing repair needs at the middle school which will continue to bleed us as a community.

7) Finally – bonding this project and spreading the cost over 20 years is a time-honored practice for financing public infrastructure – and ensuring that newcomers to our great town will contribute just as current residents will.

Seth McKee
New Paltz

Amy Mosbacher's Letter to the Editor 02/04/10: Make an Informed Vote

2010-02-07T06:33:00.001-08:00

In order to make an informed vote, you need to have accurate facts:

* Middle School Project budget is $49.8M: the local share is $29.8M and state aid will cover $20M
* District is in excellent financial shape with a high credit rating and current budget year is running at a surplus
* Board has confirmed the project will not break ground if state aid is not approved
* State building aid has never been cut and Paterson’s proposed budget for next year increases building aid by $222M
* Architects and construction managers:
· Specialize in renovation of historic, green, high performance public school buildings
· Never exceeded budget on a project or missed a deadline for completion
· Never been sued
· Base costs on regional prices, allowance for unforeseen “unknowns”: 10% contingency, 10% in construction
* By law, district cannot spend any more money than is approved in bond; if costs come in lower, loan will be for lower actual cost
* Interest rates at historic lows and will be locked in for 20 years (state aid offsets interest and principal)
* Labor costs are low right now – bids are expected to be lower than estimated cost
* Tax impact conservatively estimates high at 4.5% - actual rates should be lower
* For a median valued home ($297K) tax impact will be an average of about $14 per month for the life of the loan; cumulative total over 20 years about $3200
* Cost of doing “Nothing”, an unviable alternative, is $10M in emergency repairs and projected to cost about $10M every 10-15 years, very possibly could end up costing more than proposed project without systematically addressing any of the safety, health, environmental, equity, or educational issues
* There are no major repairs needed at Duzine, Lenape, and the High School in near future, all had significant work done in recently (much of it paid for with State aid Excel funding) with no big issues remaining
* Current Middle School:
· Significant health concerns due to failed systems and lack of air circulation
· Layout creates safety concerns and accessibility issues, frustrates team teaching, is a labyrinth, and on average rooms are 30% under state requirements
· Technologically insufficient for contemporary education
* Proposed design:
· Entirely new classroom wing increasing day lighting, fresh air, proper climate control; resolves layout, security, and accessibility issues
· Actual instruction time increased by at least 25 minutes every day!
· District office back to Middle School campus in the renovated 1930’s historic building, saving $87K per year in rental costs, ensuring entire project aid will be based on better renovation aid ratios
· Solar for energy and water heater, possibly geothermal heating, many Green advantages and building techniques greatly increasing energy efficiency and lowering operating costs
· Strengthens “house” method of middle school education, as widely practiced in New Paltz and elsewhere, updates building to appropriately provide education for our children in the 21st century

Amy Mosbacher
Middle School YES!

SNOW OR SHINE

2010-02-06T10:58:00.000-08:00

Impact of Inclement Weather On the Middle School Project Vote

The New Paltz Central School District will be holding a Bond Vote for the Middle School Project on February 9, 2010 between the hours of 12:00 Noon and 9:00 PM at the New Paltz Central High School located at South Putt Corners Road, New Paltz, New York.
Superintendent Maria Rice announced today that in the event schools are closed due to inclement weather, as prescribed by law, the Bond Vote will take place as scheduled. It is important that all qualified voters know that the polling place will be open unless a State of Emergency is declared by Ulster County.

Questions regarding this may be directed to Beverly Sickler, District Clerk, at 256-4020.

Bike-Ped's Letter to the Editor 02/04/10: Committee Supports Middle School project

2010-02-05T19:50:00.000-08:00

The following resolution passed unanimously at the November 2009 meeting of the New Paltz Bicycle-Pedestrian Committee:

Whereas the mission statement of the New Paltz Bicycle-Pedestrian Committee reads as follows: "Bicycle and foot traffic are means of transportation which contribute to a healthy, sustainable community with a good quality of life. The mission of the committee is to encourage widespread, safe and responsible use of these forms of transportation and to advocate for better and safer conditions, access and facilities for walking and cycling."

And whereas maintaining the middle school in a location central to neighborhoods of greater population density at the same time that it encourages students to walk and bicycle to school is consonant with the committee's vision of New Paltz as a walkable, bikeable community.

And whereas one aim of the renovation of the New Paltz Middle School is to create a community school that offers students the "green" option of getting to school on foot and on bicycle.

And whereas maximizing the energy efficiency of the renovated building is consonant with committee's underlying "green" aim of promoting non-motorized transportation.

Be it resolved that the New Paltz Bicycle-Pedestrian Committee hereby endorses the current Board of Education proposal to renovate the New Paltz Middle School in a way that maximizes our "green" potential.

William Weinstein
on behalf of the town and village members of the New Paltz Bicycle-Pedestrian Committee

Larry Braun's Letter to the Editor 02/04/10: Voting YES on Feb 9th has Great Many Upsides

2010-02-05T19:37:00.000-08:00

The cost of education is the price we pay for civilization, freedom and democracy. The cost of renovating the New Paltz Middle School is part of the price for this liberty.

Our school building constructed in 1930 was paid for during the Great Depression. These were times so hard those of us under 70 can't even imagine how people could live through ten years of that kind of privation. That costly sacrifice proved invaluable because WW II would change the world dramatically. By its conclusion in 1945, the era of the one-room schoolhouse had to end. The school district had gotten a jump-start and building new schools every few decades kept up with the changes in population, culture and teaching methods. Duzine came online in the '60s, followed by the high school and then Lenape in the '90s. Education is a living entity. In New Paltz and Gardiner it was being nourished improved, and kept up-to-date. The middle school renovation will continue that evolution.

We must thank previous generations who built our schools, educated our teachers and maintained and improved the education system that allowed us to thrive. The few hundred dollars we are asked to pony up each year for the renovation project is a small price we'll pay to preserve our liberty.

In fact, the renovation project also constitutes an effective regional economic stimulus. Most of the $30M local taxpayers will contribute and the $20M of state aid (that is in a dedicated fund that cannot be rescinded) will likely be spent locally and regionally for jobs and materials. This will help calm the after-shocks of the recession, which has technically ended, but is still felt by the unemployed and under-water mortgage holders.

Voting YES on Feb. 9 has a great many up-sides. Regardless of the negative message on the flyer I found illegally taped to the side of my mailbox by the so-called UniteOurDistrict.com, there are no good reasons to vote NO on Feb. 9. Their "TOP 10 REASONS WHY IT'S OK TO VOTE NO" is filled with distortions, creative accounting and untruths.

There is every good reason to vote YES. Let's support the public servants on the Board of Education who have given up countless hours of their free time to forge a plan that will continue providing the best education for the children of New Paltz and Gardiner.

Larry Braun
Gardiner

MariAnn Connelly Sennett's Letter to the Editor: We Need To Do This Project

2010-02-05T19:35:00.000-08:00

Allegations from opponents to the New Paltz Middle School Project, followed by the truth:

1. According to district reports, existing facilities are adequate, safe and doing a great job.

TRUTH: A 2005 building survey concluded: "it is questionable that the building can continue to serve the community for an extended period of time without major renovations."

2. $77M is not the way to handle typical repairs and upgrades.

TRUTH: The school is in dire need of much more than "typical needs and upgrades." The $77M cited above does not factor in state aid, estimated at $20M. State building aid has never been cut. The aid is also applied to the interest, approximately another $5M. The local share is $29.8M, with interest it is a total of about $40M over the 20-year bond.

3. The school board plans a 4% tax increase in 2010/11: the district will still be short $1.2M.

TRUTH: This year's budget is running at a surplus. The board has committed to limiting annual tax increases to 4% or less; last year it was 3%. Looking forward, this project would be contained within the historical 4% rate, not in addition to the 4%.

4. State aid cuts coming, stimulus funding ending and school taxes will rise even more with bond.

TRUTH: Educational analysts predict federal funding in K-12 education to increase, not decrease.

5. Teachers, programs, sports, after-school activities are on the chopping block.

TRUTH: This is a capital project, a completely separate budget line from operating. Governor Paterson has proposed an additional $222M in school building aid for the coming year. Paterson's proposed cuts to day-to-day operations that may affect sports and after-school programs is unrelated to building projects.

6. No contingency plan in place, yet other school districts responsibly published plans for budgetary crisis detailing cuts.

TRUTH: The school district is in the second year of a multi-year budgeting process while planning three years into the future.

7. $80M? $100M?

TRUTH: See #2, these are scare tactic inflated figures.

8. Most of the district's reserve funds will be used for the middle school project, jeopardizing needed repairs for our other three schools.

TRUTH: The reserves being used are capital reserves, monies purposely saved for building projects. There are no major projects expected at the other school buildings. In 2005 over 600 items were noted in need of attention, district wide. Since then, all big ticket and urgent items on that list have been completed for every school except the middle school.

9. Green is good, but this plan has no comparative energy audit data to demonstrate the energy and cost efficiency of this project.

TRUTH: The middle school is a fossil-fuel nightmare negatively impacting the health of students and pocketbooks through outrageous heating costs.

10. The school board put forward a multi-million project which violates their own mandate to provide district with comprehensive master plan.

TRUTH: See #8, all other buildings have been attended to. Opponents requesting more planning are pure obstructionists. We need to do this project now.

MariAnn Connolly Sennett
New Paltz

Addie Haas' Letter to the Editor 02/04/10: An Open Letter to the People Behind Unite Our District

2010-02-05T19:31:00.000-08:00

STOP! Stop defacing our lovely landscape with your negative billboards.

STOP! Stop littering our mailboxes with your flyers.

STOP! Stop wasting your money on propaganda.

STOP! Stop demeaning the intelligent people of New Paltz and Gardiner with your sound-bite promotions. We are smart enough to see beyond unsupported words.

STOP! Stop dividing our school district. Come together to support our fairly elected, hard-working school board.

STOP! Stop abusing the children of our community. Our children deserve a school that is comfortably heated, has running hot and cold water, a roof that does not leak, is ADA compliant and meets up-to-date standards of energy efficiency, health and safety.

STOP! Stop being so short-sighted. If we wait to correct the difficulties in our middle school, the situation will only get worse and the renovation more costly.

START! Start to think through the issues and JOIN your fellow citizens in voting YES for the middle school proposal on Feb. 9. This would be a productive way to Unite Our District.

Addie Haas
New Paltz

Mathew Swerdloff's Letter to the Editor 02/04/10: A Few Inconvenient Truths to Consider

2010-02-05T19:29:00.000-08:00

The opponents of the New Paltz Middle School renovation project are working hard to defeat the much needed middle school renovation plan. They warned the Board of Education some time ago that by putting this issue up for a vote the board would "divide the community." I don't have a problem with a divided community. It can be a sign of intelligent discourse on all sides of an issue. I do have a problem with a community that is divided intentionally to further the ends of a group's hidden agenda. Under the Orwellian banner "Unite Our District" the anti-renovation forces have crafted a campaign of misinformation, fear and deception.

Near Water Street Market there is a large sign claiming the project will cost $80 million. Elsewhere in the village there are lawn signs declaring it to be $100 million. These signs were posted by the same group of individuals. The fact is that the total project loan will be $29.75 million. The total cost is $49.78 million less $20.03 million dollars in state aid. Check the district's website for a full breakdown of how this cost is calculated and how state construction aid will benefit us now. The inconvenient truth Unite Our District does not want you to know: The project will cost the average taxpayer less than $13 per month through an approximate tax increase of 1% per year for four years.

I received a call last week urging me to vote against this project. I was told that the project would "quadruple the district's debt." This statement is intentionally misleading. Every school district in New York borrows money to finance major projects. Public school districts are not allowed by law to save large amounts of money for projects such as this. They are limited as to what they can have as a reserve. The reserve of the district is nowhere near large enough to finance this project, nor could it be. The inconvenient truth Unite Our District does not want you to know: To complete any project, any district would have to incur debt. This is a simple fact of public education in New York. Using hyperbole like "quadruple their debt" is blatantly misleading.

Unite Our District claims that they were not involved in the planning process and have asked the board to study this issue further. This is simply ludicrous. The board has been planning this for YEARS. Any community member with input to share has been welcome to speak at public meetings, which are held twice a month. Some of us chose to do so and were, in fact, a part of developing the plan now before us. The inconvenient truth Unite Our District does not want you to know: The Board of Education has been discussing this in public meetings since 2005.

Some of those against this project claim that the Board of Education is not qualified to run a project of this scale and that the plans are not detailed enough. The Board of Education provides oversight in the broadest sense. They do not get involved with day-to-day management of the district or a capital project. For this they hire experienced administrators and in this case an architect and construction manager. The inconvenient truth Unite Our District does not want you to know: The construction manager has reviewed the plans and found them adequate enough to create a cost estimate. More detailed plans would be developed, as per state law, if the project is approved.

I urge all of us to be diligent about vetting the information we get from lawn signs and on the supermarket line. The facts are readily available and to me they point inescapably to only one conclusion: I will vote yes on Feb. 9. The time is right, the project is right and it's what is best for the children of New Paltz.

For the facts visit http://npcsdms.edublogs.org/ or http://newpaltzmiddleschoolyes.blogspot.com.

Mathew Swerdloff
Gardiner

Terence Ward's Letter to the Editor 02/04/10: When To Draw the Line

2010-02-05T19:27:00.000-08:00

Many of my fellow New Paltz residents may have seen the sign I placed in front of my home on South Chestnut Street, which proclaimed, "Homeowners are for the Middle School -- Landlords are NOT!" My home was a good location for this sign because it is not only highly visible, it's just down the street from a very expensive anti-middle school sign on a rental property. (There are several of those large signs around town, all of which are on multi-unit, non-owner-occupied buildings.)

This morning I discovered that the sign, which was secured to a tree in my yard by an Eagle Scout well acquainted with knots, was missing.

I respect the fact that people have differing views on the middle school. I welcome debate. I'm even open to change my own position, if I hear enough evidence to sway me. I do not have children in school, so I will not be swayed by emotional arguments, but I relish a factual debate.

I draw the line at supporting petty thievery to silence the opposition.

Terence Ward
New Paltz

Kevin Patrick Hodgekiss' Letter to the Editor 02/04/10: Saying Yes is the Right Thing To Do

2010-02-05T19:25:00.000-08:00

Yes, it is okay to say "No" to your child, as the flyer I recently saw that was distributed by the "Unite Our District" group states. But when we say "no" what message are we also sending? Four years ago my youngest son graduated from the New Paltz Middle School. Every visit I commented on what wonderful teachers worked there and how awful the building was. Ask any New Paltz Middle School graduate and they will comment that it is "a dump." It always bothered me that we sent our kids to a place all day for three years they thought was a "dump." I find it hard to believe that anyone who has walked those halls has not noticed the deterioration and dilapidation of the buildings. I find it very disheartening that many of my friends and neighbors have sided with the landlords and realtors who are fighting against this renovation project, yet have walked those hallways as well. I try not to think that many of these families no longer have a need for the middle school. I have watched the videos. I've read the signs and the flyers. I've visited the web sites. I've examined the proposal. I've watch the public meetings and I have tried to follow this since the original vote was taken to renovate the old building. I was proud that my community was addressing what I saw as a long overdue educational need. Lately, I have had a change in heart. The discourse and politics are truly disturbing. Never have I thought the Board of Education wasn't being up front and fair with the community. Nowhere can I find reason to suspect anything but responsibility and thoroughness on their efforts. Certainly I see no excuse for the rude and accusatory personal statements directed at members of the board at these meetings and in the press, and to be perfectly honest, I am ashamed by them. I am totally confounded by a group that doesn't want to spend money to fix a school and is willing to spend a lot of money on full page ads and billboards to tell me. I become even more suspicious to find their signs mostly on rental properties. I find it ironic that they call their group "Unite Our District."

I once heard a wise woman say that when you visit a community, you can learn all you need to know by visiting the schools.

I understand and appreciate the financial argument of an additional tax burden on an already financially stressed community. In my family we prioritize, make choices and often sacrifice for what is necessary and most important. I will vote "yes" on the bond issue to renovate the middle school because it is necessary and our kids are important, and although it is okay to say no to them, sometimes saying yes is the right thing to do.

Kevin Patrick Hodgkiss
New Paltz

Renee Falanga-Brenner's Letter to the Editor 02/04/10: Why I'll Vote Yes on Feb 9th

2010-02-05T19:23:00.001-08:00

The reason I am voting YES on Feb. 9 is simple. Our school district is in dire need of a new middle school that meets the safety and educational standards so that ALL our children have access to a public education that prepares them for a successful future. This means renovating the middle school so it offers an updated technological education in a hands-on learning environment. Our school district community has a history of band-aiding existing problems which wastes time and money. In the end it is our children who suffer the consequences.

The current and previous elected school boards have devoted MANY volunteer hours to devise a renovation that is not only cost effective but addresses the needs and concerns of the students, staff and the community. Many other individuals, such as school personnel, teachers, students, administrators and community members have also helped with this project proposal. I thank you all for your dedication and I hope and pray the vote passes. I just think about the many hours you could have been spending with your own children and family. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I am a homeowner and a parent of four New Paltz School District students. This vote will only effect my youngest child. However, one of the biggest reasons my oldest child was not able to attend the middle school was because of the inaccessibility for students who use a wheelchair. The bigger picture here is that the middle school is not truly accessible and that makes it difficult, if not impossible, for not only students with disabilities, but staff and parents to work or attend events at the school if they have a disability. At any given time a person can become a person with a disability. Again, this public school SHOULD be accessible for all!

In closing, I suggest that the citizens of New Paltz attend town planning board meetings and voice your concerns as to why we don't encourage and ALLOW businesses to locate to New Paltz. Doing so would surely pick up the tax burden on ALL homeowners. We have an exit off the Thruway...bring in those businesses that allow New Paltz residents to stay local and residents of other locales to COME TO NEW PALTZ!

So please vote YES on Feb. 9. Before you do, go to the website and read for yourself what the plan REALLY costs and what it involves (www.newpaltz.k12.ny.us).

Remember our children's successful future is ours as well!

Renee Falanga-Brenner
New Paltz

Mark Rosen's Letter to the Editor 02/04/10: Support for the Middle School Project

2010-02-05T19:22:00.000-08:00

I will be voting YES on Feb. 9 in support of the New Paltz Middle School renovation project.

Despite the signs around town that imply that the New Paltz district voters are being asked to support an $80 or $100 million dollar project, the renovation of the New Paltz Middle School actually comes with a pricetag of $49 million dollars. Of that total cost, $29 million will come from local taxpayers. The $80 and $100 million dollar figures being floated by opponents of the project do not reflect the cost of the project itself but represent the taxpayers' share of the entire debt service to be paid over the length of a 20-year loan (home buyers might not have proceeded even with their own home mortgages if they had seen only the debt service totals). When analyzing the cost and scope of the project, I would hope that voters consider the $29 million dollar figure, the portion the community will be responsible for.

Many people have voiced their concerns that the state might withdraw its support for the building project, like they have withdrawn school aid midyear across the state. What the state is able to do, and what Governor Paterson has already done, is to reduce only the state's share of districts' operating budgets, the budgets that pay the bills to run and operate schools from July to June. The state has never withdrawn support for a building project once it has commenced, nor are they legally entitled to once ground is broken. In fact, Governor Paterson's new proposed budget includes an increase in school building aid.

I fully understand that $29 million dollars is still a significant amount of money. But the recent crumbling of a section of roof at the middle school (and the subsequent expenditure to address it) convinces me that band-aid solutions are no longer an option. In the past the easy thing to do was to patch up the myriad of small, medium and large problems as they arose and to ignore the bigger picture. Unfortunately, stop gap measures will not make the problems facing the middle school disappear. The need to address the inadequacies of the building will never lessen and nor will the price tag decrease. The $29 million dollar local share of the project will buy $25 million dollars worth of improvements in a few years (and even less after that). Antiquated, inefficient, energy-guzzling heating and ventilation systems will continue to drain money from the district's annual operating budgets and cost taxpayers money, year after year, gallon of oil by gallon of oil.

I no longer have children in the New Paltz School District (my children sat in middle school basement classrooms with exposed pipes and in second floor classrooms that required opening windows in the winter, over a decade ago). But I will be supporting the renovation initiative on Feb. 9 because I think it is a necessary and responsible thing to do.

Mark Rosen
New Paltz

The 49th Student Association Senate's Letter to the Editor 02/104/10: Middle School YES

2010-02-05T19:20:00.001-08:00

Last semester, $90 million was cut from the SUNY system. This was after enduring the $143 million cut in 2008. SUNY students want education to be a New York State priority; it is as important as healthcare, public housing and environmental work.

However, state politicians chose to chip away funds from all social institutions. Money was taken away from libraries, schools, hospitals, park services and public transportation. SUNY students were outraged at the cuts which would immediately affect them as well as their families. Students on campuses across the state, as well as community groups of all shapes and sizes, gathered to speak out against the poor handling of our state's budget, but the proposed cuts were approved nonetheless.

SUNY students have not forgotten about our state's financial crisis. Political stalemates and fake compromises are unacceptable at any time in history. However, in the midst of statewide political drama, New Paltz residents have the unique opportunity to invest in renovations to the middle school. Many of us went to schools with poor heating, outdated electricity service and overcrowded lunchrooms, so when we see community members organizing a sensible plan to expand walls and revamp the energy flow, we see better opportunities for students to learn. Educational resources should be up to date, effective and environmentally friendly for all students of all ages.

The low impact tax increase necessary for these renovations will be a shining example of shared sacrifice for a more efficient and comfortable learning experience for New Paltz middle schoolers.

It is encouraging to see local leaders push a plan like this forward and we strongly support their endeavors to make learning comfortable and enjoyable for everyone.

The 49th Student Association Senate
SUNY New Paltz

Glenn Gidaly's Letter to the Editor 02/04/10: Helping to Pay for the New Middle School

2010-02-05T19:18:00.001-08:00

As a parent of two children who went through New Paltz Schools, I am aware that those who came before me paid for all of the facilities that my kids were fortunate enough to be able to use. Now, it is my turn to continue to support public education and to help pay for the new middle school, for all of the kids who will use it.

A point of reality that perhaps should be considered; historically, this is a very advantageous time to be seeking construction bids on public projects. My professional work in both the Albany and Hudson Valley regions involves numerous public projects that have been bid-out in the past six months; bridges, roads, sidewalks, municipal buildings, water/sewer facilities and green-related technologies. In just about every case, the construction bids have come in at or below the project engineer's estimate.

Clearly, contractors are seeking to secure projects in order to keep their people working. This speaks volumes in terms of moving the middle school project forward at this point in time. Let's take advantage of the fact that there is a large pool of reputable contractors with a skilled labor force standing ready to deliver quality work. We can meet our decades known obligation to revamp the middle school and do so in a cost effective manner.

Glenn Gidaly
Gardiner

Kevin O'Connor's Letter to the Editor 02/04/10: State-of-the-art Middle School

2010-02-05T19:16:00.001-08:00

I support keeping the New Paltz Middle School where it is. I believe from almost any perspective -- land use, smart growth, economic development, safe communities -- you name it, it makes sense compared to building new elsewhere. When I look at the alternative of repairing the middle school, it really strikes me as throwing good money after bad.

I must say that I'm impressed by the dedication of past and present school board members who have volunteered their time to guide our school district and by the performance of Superintendent Maria Rice and Assistant Superintendent Richard Linden. Most have been at this for several years and I place a high value on their commitment, collective judgment and recommendation. They are now facing a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking.

When I look at the fiscal impacts, I see this as a real bargain. The math is straightforward. It is a $76M project when you add in the interest costs. The state picks up $31M to $20M for the capital and $11M for interest. Net local cost is $46M. Add in the existing capital debt, use the restricted capital reserve, factor in retiring capital debt and you end up with a real fiscal impact of 1.1% increase per year for only four years. For a median price home, this will cost you $163 more on average than you're paying now for each of the next 20 years and you get a state-of-the art middle school.

I spend a great deal of my professional time concerned about affordability issues and I'm a little surprised by all the fuss. We have had 3%, 5%, 7% or double digit increases in nearly all school operating budgets throughout the Hudson Valley every year for the past 25 years that I've been following it. This capital project will add 1.1% to the to the tax levy in only four of the next 20 years, offset by .7% decreases in two out of the 20 years. Frankly it's the operating budgets over the next 20 years that concern me.

I see this as an opportunity to invest in our future -- in our school system, our children and an important building located in the heart of our town. This is the essence of community building. I believe that having a first class facility in the middle of Main Street will be an asset to the town for the next half century. And with all the talk about the costs, I'd like to see the conversation expanded to capture the full array of economic impacts this renovation will occur. What are the various multiplier effects from a $49M construction project? What is the amount of disposable income spent in local businesses during construction and thereafter by students, teachers, staff, parents and visitors? How many jobs will be created or retained in existing local business by this investment in this location? For the next 50 years!

Sure there are still capital needs at our other schools. They pale in comparison in scope and cost and none of those buildings are located smack dab on Main Street. Only the middle school has an 80-year-old core and seriously flawed systems. I am also concerned that if we don't deal with the middle school now, the costs of doing so will increase dramatically. And who will pay? Our children will pay. Push this project off 15 years and it might cost $150M! The irony will be that the middle schoolers of today -- who will then in their late twenties -- will get stuck paying.

The sky is falling argument that the state will cut capital aid after they pledge it is really far fetched. Long before the state becomes derelict on its commitments in this category it will simply cut capital aid to any future school projects. The real danger regarding state aid is if we delay this project, there might not be any on the table. It's really another reason to do the project now.

The stewardship of our school district is our collective responsibility. We have elected and hired leadership who have put in countless hours and followed an exhaustive process over several years to put forth this proposal. I give that a lot of weight and I'm voting yes for the middle school renovation.

Kevin O'Connor
New Paltz

Barbara Carroll & Sally Rhoads Letter to the Editor 02/04/10: Former School Board Members Support Project

2010-02-05T19:14:00.000-08:00

Like many in our community, wer have been undecided about the Middle School renovation project. We've always advocated for educational excellence, but condemned bureaucratic waste. Is this the former or the latter, we wondered? As a former school board members, we'd champion genuine student needs. As retirees supported by retirement investments worth much less now than before, we’d oppose frivolous spending.

Clearly some renovation is warranted. School boards have been patching up the building’s many flaws for several decades, trying to extend its use so that other more pressing needs could be met, hoping some other municipality would need and buy our white elephant. The Depression era front building is well built and sturdy; not so the flat roofed, cheaply made, deteriorating, 1960’s classroom addition.

Our concern has been whether the current proposal is a more expensive “fix” than is needed. Upon investigation, we have decided that it is not.

The estimated construction cost of $245 per square foot compares favorably with the $415 per square foot cost of the “green” remodeling of SUNY’s Old Main Building. ($27M for 65,000 sq. ft. per SUNY’s website updated 1/21/10.) School construction is very expensive due to many state construction mandates, most notably NY’s 1912 Wicks Law which raises costs by about 25%.

While increasing available classroom space by about 20%, the project’s energy efficiency will decrease utility costs by 7-8% per year.

Furthermore, Rhinebeck Architecture has a sterling reputation. They have never been late completing a project, nor has any client sued them. In fact, it is the firm New Paltz turned to during its litigation with the Lenape architects.

Our decision to publicly support the project has been spurred by the blatant lies being spread by opponents. The remodeled Middle School WILL NOT COST $100 MILLION, even with all the bond interest paid over time. If opponents must resort to a lie as their main argument against a remodeled Middle School, they must lack better, rational arguments.

The total net future cost will be about $42 million: $49.8M immediate construction cost minus $20M state aid, minus $4M existing NP reserve funds ($25.8M) followed by $26.8M long term bond interest minus $10.7M state bond aid ($16.1M) = $41.9M. NY law forbids cost overruns on bonded school projects.

We have noted that many current opponents were also vocal twenty years ago in their objection to building Lenape School. Student population estimates were all wrong, they cried with authority; Lenape would be an unnecessary “ghost school” because there’d be no students to fill it.

They were wrong then. They are wrong now.

Barbara Carroll & Sally Rhoads

Floyd Kniffen's Letter to the Editor 02/04/10: Don't Believe Their Hype

2010-02-05T19:06:00.001-08:00

This past fall, I began attending the public forums for the Middle School project. Prior to this, I had no knowledge to the specifics of this project. I never signed petitions our voiced support for this project. I was coming into this with an open mind, undecided about the project. At these meetings, I voiced my concerns about specific aspects of the project – becoming more and more aware of the details.

Growing up in New Paltz, I attended the Middle School. My morning routine during these years included first riding my bike to Hobo Deli (now, Moonlight Café), sweeping the front sidewalk for a dollar, maybe spend a quarter to play Pac Man, and then riding my bike up Main Street to school. My after school routine usually involved the Youth Center followed by an elaborate downhill bike route through the college and then home. Because of the Middle School’s location, we all interacted with the surrounding community. There is so much potential at this location!

I now have two children, one in Kindergarten and one in preschool. I look forward to their years in our schools. I am thankful that we have a great school district and I hold our School Board to maintaining a great school district for the future. From what I have seen and experienced to date, I am impressed with the School Board members. It is obvious that they are hard working and diligent in making sure they are doing what is best for both our school district and our tax payers. The project they are presenting is the culmination of teacher, student, parent and professional involvement.

After careful consideration of the details and costs, I whole-heartedly support this project. It is not too big. The Middle School needs more than repairs, it needs a major overhaul. This is so obvious - and to say otherwise, is just careless rhetoric!

We need to start this project now. Construction costs are very reasonable, interest rates are low and further repair costs will be avoided. As in all municipal projects, the costs of this project will be bonded over twenty years, so we will reap the benefits of today’s construction climate while paying the costs over time. If we delay this project, we will most likely lose these cost reductions while still paying over the same time period.

There is a well-organized group of vocal opponents to this project. I have struggled with understanding the reason behind their vehement opposition. This group is mostly made up of local landlords claiming that their motive is to unite our community. In all of their literature, I don’t find one real reason that justifies a vote against this project. It is mostly large dollar figures plastered around weak arguments!

If there is any doubt in your mind that this project is needed, please don’t base your decision on hype and scare tactics. Tour the Middle School on February 4th or contact the school district office for more information.

Please vote YES for the Middle School project. Voting will take place at the high school this coming Tuesday, February 9th.

Floyd Kniffen
New Paltz

Celia Cuomo and Maurice Weitman's Letter to the Editor 02/104/10: Vote YES for Middle School Renovations

2010-02-05T18:55:00.001-08:00

Surely you've seen the signs telling us to stop spending $100 million, or $80 million. They say they want to "save our district."

Mostly, though, what they want to save is their money. We understand.

They say that Gov. Patterson is cutting aid to our schools. But the truth is that he has committed to INCREASING aid for school renovations and building. The State knows how important it is to keep our infrastructure sound, our children safe, and our plant efficient. And the State knows how foolish it is to treat gaping wounds with band-aids.

(By the way: if for any reason the State doesn't come through, the project doesn't happen. Period. Easy.)

The people of "NO" act as though voting against the $50 million renovation project ($30 million net cost to us after NY State's contribution) will save all that money. They forget to acknowledge that a new school will cost much more.

They also neglect to say that without this responsible, long-term fix, by deferring this necessary maintenance yet again, we'd be spending MORE money over the long term, which is exactly how we got into this mess.

We have no kids or relatives in our schools. We pay close to double the median tax amount. We are far from wealthy.

But we believe in investing in our community, in our children, and in our future.

We hope you do, too, and that you will join us in voting YES on the Middle School renovations this February 9th.

Celia Cuomo
Maurice Weitman
New Paltz

Celeste Cleary's Letter to the Editor 02/04/10: Voting YES to Save Money

2010-02-05T18:53:00.000-08:00

Two years ago I took a tour of the Middle School and experienced a building that was jaw-droppingly decrepit and ineffective.

We need to renovate. So let's pass this bond and get the work going. The
sooner we do this we will start to get return-of-investment from the
increased insulation, solar hot water panels, geothermal, dual-flush toilets
and HVAC efficiencies of this plan. For example: auto-sensors to dim lights
when daylight is sufficient will cost $185,000 -- and get us a payback of
investment in only 2-5 years. From this one technology we will be saving on
utilities for decades to come.

Let's do this. Vote YES.

Every day we delay our tax dollars are literally pouring out the windows.

Celeste Cleary
New Paltz

32 People Voice Support in Letter to the Editor 02/04/10: Why We Support the Renovation Project

2010-02-05T18:47:00.000-08:00

We are voting YES! on the issue of renovating the Middle School for these reasons:

- The middle-school teachers are enthusiastic about the innovative layout in the renovation plan and we wholeheartedly endorse the green technology in it;

- it keeps a school within the village proper while the other schools remain in remote locations;

- we have to use this site for educational purposes or lose it according to a [sic] reversionary clause;

- if we do not act now the eventual cost of any other project will surely exceed the overall cost of this renovation plan;

- the real issue is not the tens of millions in public debt the renovation will amass, it is merely the tens of dollars added annually to our school taxes we must pay to support this project.

We implore all the parents of children who go to our schools, or will go to our schools in the near future, their relatives, their friends, and their neighbors, to vote YES! on February 9 in support of public education for our children.

Todd Quinlan, Jeffrey Goldman, Norman Turner, Tessa Killian, Betty Marton, Joan Cherney, Robin Perls, Jerry Teters, Jennifer Zaborowski, Jeff Perls, Joanna Teters, Glenn McNitt, Robby Vorspan, Alysa Sullivan, Maryann Fallek, Brian Lynch, Dan Sullivan, Eric Schwartz, Joan Combellick, Jasmine Redfern, Stacey Schaffer, Joel Keehn, Cordell Stahl, Theresa Fall, Renee Falanga-Brenner, Paul Carroll, Mariann Sennett, Eleanor Wolfe, Matthew Flusser, Robin Hayes, Lisa Munzer, Bill Munzer

Peter Muller's Letter to the Editor 02/04/10: Small Increase Is Worth the Benefits

2010-02-05T18:36:00.000-08:00

As a homeowner and landlord in New Paltz, I certainly don’t want to see my taxes increased any more. However, I feel that the small increase is worth the benefits of a renovated, environmentally sound and energy-efficient middle school. I agree with those who want their children to have the best educational environment in which to prepare for their and our future.

I will be voting “Yes” to the renovation.

Peter Muller
New Paltz, NY

Rachel Lagodka's Letter to the Editor 02/05/10: Investing in the Future of the Community

2010-02-05T18:10:00.001-08:00

I want to begin this letter by saying that some of my best friends are landlords. And they support funding the Middle School project because as stakeholders they care about investing in the future of the community, and as conscientious people they care about taking real action to create a world they want to see. It is true that the most vocal opponents of the project are landlords, and a frequent speaker at the many public hearings that were provided is a landlord who does not live in New Paltz, but a set of circumstances, self-interested or not, connected to proponents and detractors of the project does not prove or disprove the project’s worth. The project either is or is not a smart move, regardless of who is in favor or against it, and regardless of any details at all about the people with opinions one way or the other. Everybody wants a good school for the children. Nobody wants a tax increase. Unfortunately, at this stage of our existence, we can’t have a good school without paying for it. Defeating the bond won't decrease our taxes. Spending money to defeat the bond is a bad investment because the project, though it involves an initial increase in taxes, will actually cost less than continuous repairs on an inefficient building, or building later when the prices for fuel and labor and supplies are just going up. Detractors of the project have put up signs that double the price, some claiming 100million and others a more modest 80 or 90. If you vote “no,” and they keep having to repair the Middle School, and eventually have to replace it anyhow, the costs will eventually double, but for now, there is no reason to be frightened by the exaggerations of the opponents of the project. They have come before the board again and again and their math has proven to be wrong again and again.

My suggestion would be to vote "yes" for the bond, and then make sure the project is as efficient and effective in the long run as possible, and watch every bit of the construction process to make sure there is no waste. Make sure they hire local people. Check up on the pricing and sourcing of all the material they get. Try to help them do the best job possible by bringing their attention to local resources and expertise. The school board has been very receptive and responsive to public comment. Over the last 5 months they have held public forums at least once and sometimes 3 times a week. The have responded to the concerns of the public and continue to respond. In response to my concern about coming up with yearly payments, they are going to divide the payments up so we don’t have to come up with a lump sum. While they cut out the cultural benefits to the school like the amphitheater and new equipment in the auditorium in response to public comment they did not cut the green energy modifications that will save us money in the long run, also in response to public comment.

If the project comes in under budget, the money would go back to the taxpayers. If it ends up costing all that money, the community still gets the high performance building they can be proud of and the children get the benefits of a wise investment in a healthy school that does not depend on fossil fuels.
There probably are ways that taxes can go down without depriving the students. At least the tax burden could be distributed more fairly. The problem for small homeowners in New Paltz like me is that your property gets taxed instead of your income and many of us here bought houses when they were cheap, still live in the same houses and make the same incomes, but have to pay double and sometimes triple the taxes as we did when we moved here.

That is not a reason to refuse to pay for the middle school. That is a reason to restructure the taxation.

Rachel Lagodka
New Paltz

Ben Marshall's Letter to the Editor 02/04/10: I am Excited to Make This Investment in New Paltz

2010-02-05T18:02:00.000-08:00

How unfortunate that the timing of our vote for the future of education in New Paltz coincides with our receiving that mail marked “Important Tax Documents”. I now recognize that the February 9th vote will reinforce the direction our school district takes in preparing our kids for complex and challenging lives in this integrated, global, technologically advanced society.

The vote is not about a building, nor about taxes, nor the recession. It’s about community and the willingness of us folks to invest in the future of this community. It is about the role of our schools in developing strong thinkers who can work on complex problems spanning multiple subjects, organized as teams that strive toward common goals, a capacity urgently needed in the workforce and desperately lacking in civic organizations like those in our nation’s capitol.

On January 27th I attended the final school board meeting pertaining to the middle school project. The board detailed the reasons why we need to replace our middle school, why it makes fiscal sense to do it now, during the recession, at its current location, and how the design of the new middle school lends itself to 21st century educational best-practices.

I was amazed by the thoroughness of the work this board produced, all of it available on the web site. I can imagine the time investment they have given to this project since its inception and I profoundly respect their willingness to do it on our behalf. I was impressed by the patience they demonstrated answering questions and addressing concerns of the assembled taxpayers, whose understandable frustrations about such a big decision were handled graciously by the board.

At the meeting, we comprehensively discussed the financials of the project. I had no prior knowledge of the numbers involved though I had seen a few lawn signs of folks who oppose the project. I left the meeting with a clear understanding of the costs for New Paltz taxpayers, the contributions from Albany and the debt service on both our existing bonds and the one associated with this project. Everyone present that night received a detailed spreadsheet from the district’s business manager and heard his succinct explanation of the financial impact we can expect.

It boils down to this: Based on assessed home values, the average New Paltz taxpayer will incur $162.75 per year additional school taxes for the next twenty years on top of whatever school tax increase would already take place, capped at 4%. That’s $13.56 average per month for homeowners, a bit more for some, a bit less for others, but roughly the cost of a burger and beer at P&Gs.

I am excited to make this investment in New Paltz. I am glad for my kids and the children of every family in this district, now and for the next 50+ years, who will have the privilege of learning in a sophisticated educational program amongst a community of forward-thinking, hopeful and responsible adults. We will create a top-tier middle school as the launching pad for our kids into our already top-200 in the nation high school. I can’t imagine a better way for our kids to prepare themselves or a more worthy investment for us to make.

Please vote YES on February 9th.

Ben Marshall
New Paltz

kt Tobin Flusser's Letter to the Editor 02/04/10: Project is Right for Our Community

2010-02-05T17:58:00.000-08:00

I urge my neighbors in our school district to join me in voting YES on February 9th.

Long before I ran for school board, I advocated renovating the Middle School. When I ran I promised to seek to "maintain excellence despite fiscal pressures . . . to actively participate in the middle school renovation, an opportunity for the district to concretize its commitment to 21st Century education while going green and staying fiscally sound.”

The decision-making process regarding this proposal has been thorough and transparent. We have held numerous public meetings and put thousands of hours of work into this proposal which included the participation of students, teachers, staff, PTA’s, parents, community groups, and interested citizens. With the input of so many stakeholders, the final proposal includes a solid relocation plan with the least disruption for students, maintenance of full-day Kindergarten, a bond timeline which delays tax impact till 2012, and the removal of components deemed “wants” and not “needs”. While some suggested postponing the project, we rejected this too, because the toll on our children and financial cost to our community makes no sense.

I agree that $49.8M is a lot of money. Initially I had sticker shock, but after diligently working with my board colleagues, I now know that this is what we need to do. We have “interrogated” our architects and construction managers - drilling down on all the scenarios, demanding all the how’s and the why’s - and have come to understand this is the appropriate price for a public building built to last and serve us well into the 21st century. We have conducted an exhaustive due-diligence check of costs. All estimates are based on comprehensive budget examinations of similar projects in our region. Respected community members who work in related fields have affirmed that the proposed costs are right on target.

These may be the worst of economic times. Yet, paradoxically, in many ways they are the best of times to build. Construction costs and interest rates are at historic lows. It is probable that costs will NEVER be lower than what they are now.

Critical physical deterioration to the building was identified in 2005. This project is overdue. We need to reject short-term fixes that fail to correct the egregious structural problems with our Middle School. Over the long run, alternative approaches will cost considerably more than what is currently proposed. Now is the time to act for health, safety, security, equity, energy efficiency, the environment, our pocketbooks, and most of all, the appropriate education of our children in this century.

I am confident in my neighbors’ ability to evaluate this proposal on the merits, benefits against costs. We know the cost. We know what we need to do for our community. I voted YES to send this project to our citizens because it is right for our community, and I will vote YES February 9th. Please join me.

kt Tobin Flusser
New Paltz

Note: This is an expression of my personal view, and does not represent a statement from the school board.

Rebecca Rotzler's Letter to the Editor 02/04/10: A History Lesson

2010-02-05T17:52:00.000-08:00

The New Paltz Middle School was built in 1930 to house the 10th, 11th, and 12th grades that were formerly educated on the Normal School campus, now SUNY New Paltz.

When the state alerted the village that it would have to take over the last three years of high school education there was considerable debate about where the school should be built and how much it should cost.

August 1929, Millard Dubois, the school should "not be far from the center of the village".

November 1929, Bryun Hasbrouck, on the debate about what to do, urges the newspaper and the district to "make clear a subject that has probably been hazy in the minds of many people."

January 1930, an editorial includes a call to move forward, "Because New Paltz voters are far too self-respecting to commit the foolish errors made by so many towns when this kind of decision has to be made, frequently holding up a needed program for years, adding thousands of unnecessary expense."

January 1930, Elting Harp, in response to opposition to the project, "It is seldom, if ever, in an election that involves the spending of money that some people do not say the price is too high."

February 1930, in a report on the New Paltz Lumber Company's donation of athletic fields, "The deed conveying title is to contain a reversionary clause to the effect that if said tract ceases to be used as an athletic field, recreation center or playground in connection with educational purposes, it shall revert to the New Paltz Lumber Company, it's successor or assigns."

April 1930, it is reported that the state played an active role in site selection and building design and would pay a quarter of the estimated $190,000 to build the school. Further, in an editorial response to attacks on the school board, "...the board has worked with painstaking care to meet the requirements of Albany and at the same time conserved our taxpayers' money... No stone has been left unturned."

May 1930, voters accept the plan with 154 for and 108 against. One anti-voter is quoted, "What is the use of a fine building if people are too poor to send their children to school?" A supporter is quoted, "If we vote it down, the extra trouble will make it cost just as much in the end."

August 1930, actual bids were lower than expected, three Kingston firms were selected, with a total cost of about $160,000. Even in the Depression era, the state paid its full share.

October 1930, in his building dedication, Superintendent Gillette, "According to recorded experiences of the past, our generation will be called upon to make a contribution to the world's educational progress and young men and women whom this building will serve will strive to contribute their share."

All research cited here was conducted at the Haviland-Heidgerd Historical Collection, Elting Library. All direct quotes appeared in the New Paltz Independent.

Rebecca Rotzler
New Paltz

Ivy Sciandra's Letter to the Editor 2/4/10: We Can't Afford To Wait

2010-02-05T17:29:00.001-08:00

I struggled with the question of the New Paltz Middle School renovation for some time because it's a complicated project that will affect both my child's education and my family's tax bill. But after attending many meetings and talking to anyone who would listen, I've come to the conclusion that it's in the best interest of our kids and our community to do this renovation now. There's been a lot of talk about the "band aid" repairs that have been done to this school over the years, the most recent example being $50,000 to repair the roof in the gym.

Nobody got hurt -- this time. The longer we delay the more expensive these patch jobs will become as the building degrades. And how much more expensive will it be if we have to pay for the medical care of someone who is hurt?

A lot of people are scared about how much this will cost New Paltz if we don't get the state aid that's been promised. If that happens, the project won't move forward -- period. We won't be forced to come up with the extra money.

The Board of Education has done a great job putting together this plan. The layout of the school is genius and will really provide the students with a feeling of unity amongst their classmates. Finding the school in Tillson for the relocation plan -- and persuading the state to let us use it -- is a real feather in the board's cap. It answers one of the most important questions about how to implement this renovation project.

Our kids and teachers deserve a safe place for learning and we can't afford to wait.

Ivy Sciandra
New Paltz

Nancy Schniedewind's Letter to the Editor 02/4/10: Join me in voting yes for the middle school project

2010-02-04T15:13:00.000-08:00

It is unfortunate that public education is the only area in which taxpayers have a very direct and immediate voice in supporting or rejecting tax initiatives. The pain we feel from an economic crisis created by the greed of unregulated banks and corporations can too easily fuel action that hurts community children, public education and ultimately ourselves.

The economic times are very frustrating and painful, but where and how should we push back? Is pushing back at others in our community wise?

-- Should we push back against a responsible school board and district that have spent many years developing a renovation plan for the unsafe New Paltz Middle School with ongoing opportunities for community input? This plan will most effectively keep New Paltz affordable by costing taxpayers less over the years than renovating or building later.

Instead locally,

-- Why not push back by gathering accurate and well-researched information. For example, will the district's debt be $100 million as some opponents allege? The district now has about $24 million in debt, some of which retires in two years, more ($12 million) in nine years and the rest ($10.8 million) in 13 years. For the middle school project, the district would take on a debt just under $30 million dollars, factoring in state aid. This combined debt will be $54 million dollars, not $100 million dollars.

-- Why not push back by basing our thinking on reason and not fear. Should we fear the state cutting out building fund monies once the project starts? As a veteran SUNY employee, I've seen the state cut academic budgets many times, but never cut a building project allocation once it's committed. The district has also promised that it will not move ahead on the project without the state's share committed.

And instead more broadly,

-- Why not spend more of our time pushing back through our elected leaders and advocacy organizations against those economic and foreign policy decisions that have brought on and sustained this economic crisis, pushing for solutions that can bring much greater economic relief than the $163 a year the average household will pay to retire existing debts and the middle school loan. (See The National Priorities Project's costofwar.com.)

-- Why not push back by becoming more active advocating for school funding changes in New York state, such as the Equity in Education Act legislative proposal that would change funding from the property tax to income tax, to take the burden of school taxes off those who are hurt by them the most. (See NYS A.6009)

Yes, we do need to push back, but let's think about what are fair, honest and effective ways to confront these hard economic times.

I will vote "YES" for the middle school renovation because I believe it will best keep New Paltz affordable while showing commitment to the common good. I hope you will join me.

Nancy Schniedewind
New Paltz

Make An Informed Vote

2010-02-04T06:26:00.000-08:00

9 Days and Counting - What Can You Do To Help?

2010-01-31T14:45:00.000-08:00

There are only 9 days till the Middle School vote! What can YOU to do HELP?

#1 Put out a lawn sign and/or help distribute lawn signs. Email NPMiddleSchoolYES@gmail.com for details.

#2 Host an impromptu gathering in order to tell your friends about the importance of voting YES!

#3 Send emails to your friends with links to our website and Facebook group, the district's webblog, the video of supporters, the Slice of New Paltz Q & A, the "History Lesson", and the latest Hinchey annoucement.

Our website: http://newpaltzmiddleschoolyes.blogspot.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/New-Paltz-Middle-School-YES/237960830099?ref=nf

District Webblog: http://npcsdms.edublogs.org/

Support Video: http://newpaltzmiddleschoolyes.blogspot.com/2010/01/middle-school-yes-pro-project-people.html

Slice of New Paltz Q & A: http://www.newpaltzliving.com/home/2009/12/31/qa-on-the-proposed-middle-school-renovation.html

History Lesson: http://newpaltzmiddleschoolyes.blogspot.com/2010/01/history-lesson.html

Hinchey/Solar Energy Consortium Announcement: http://newpaltzmiddleschoolyes.blogspot.com/2010/01/fabulous-news-tsec-application-to.html

#4 Attend and encourage your friends to attend the remaining presentations on the project:

Wednesday February 3 7:00 PM Board of Education Meeting at the High School
Thursday February 4 6:30 PM Tours of the Middle School & Presentation at
7:00 PM in the New Paltz Middle School Gym

#5 Put up a sign in your car or business window. Download sign here: http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B1fDgRwvRVcqMjI2YWU0MGMtYzgxMS00ZjlmLTkzM2ItY2QwOTE0NDA0MjRj&hl=en

#6 Contribute money. Middle School YES! is collecting donations to help get the word out to voters about the importance of voting YES! on the bond. Checks should be made out to New Paltz Middle School YES! and mailed to this address: New Paltz Middle School YES! c/o Amy Mosbacher, 2 Woodland Drive, New Paltz, 12561

How Much Will This Project Cost YOU?

2010-01-30T16:27:00.001-08:00

The average cost for BOTH current and proposed debt over 20 years on the median valued home in the District ($297,700) will be $13.55 per month. If you are interested in the actual impact on YOUR OWN TAX BILL, we urge you to contact Rick Linden at 256-4010. He has been very responsive to our requests throughout our own fact finding process.

Peter Kaufman's Letter to the Editor 01/27/10: Be Educated for Education's Sake

2010-01-30T15:54:00.000-08:00

Anyone who travels through New Paltz these days will no doubt see the signs-o-doom prophesizing a debt of $100 million dollars if we pass the resolution for the New Paltz Middle School renovations. One hundred million dollars is no doubt a lot of money. (Or is it...according to Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz, that's barely enough money to fund a little more than three hours of our government's war on terror. But I digress.) I think most of us would think twice about burdening current and future taxpayers with this debt. But as we pass by these signs, how many of us actually know where this figure came from and how it was calculated?

It's ironic that one of the main goals of education is to teach children to think critically, to analyze data and to learn how to make informed decisions after weighing various options. And yet, the opponents of the middle school renovation plan are hoping that the voters are un-critical, non-analytical, and un-informed. In effect they want us to be uneducated voters. Their signs-o-doom are classic examples of scare tactics, fear mongering and irresponsible propaganda that are intended to sway voters during these times of economic uncertainty.

With about two weeks left before the vote there is still plenty of time to get informed about this issue. Anyone who is reading the letters in the New Paltz Times is at least intrigued to hear what the community is saying. Having read all of the articles, all of the letters and all of the pro and con websites, it is undoubtedly clear to me that now is the time to renovate the New Paltz Middle School. After weighing all of the information presented for and against the resolution, I find the arguments favoring renovation to be the most plausible, the most credible and the most convincing. For the sake of our children and our community please vote YES on Feb. 9, 2010.

Peter Kaufman
New Paltz

Elise Gold's Letter to the Editor 01/27/10: Proposed Plan Makes Sense

2010-01-30T15:42:00.001-08:00

Applause to the New Paltz Board of Education, Maria Rice and her administration for proposing such a well thought-out plan to the New Paltz community for the renovation of our middle school. Praise for the ongoing information sharing of information via community forums, coffee houses, Board of Ed meetings, PTA meetings, newsletters and blog on the district's website. I honor their process, as well as the product that is being proposed.

So many valuable points have been expressed on these pages. At this time, I'd like to respond to an option proposed that has to do with preserving the existing building in its entirety and making it more energy efficient. The thought was to increase efficiency by upgrading the windows and adding solar panels, etc. While this may seem like a reasonable option, I have walked in the footsteps that my son walks each day when going from one class to another.

As parents, we walk the middle school maze on open house night when visiting the teachers in their respective classrooms. For instance, in order to go from French class (in the 1966 addition) to social studies (in the original 1930 wing), a student needs to walk down a hall, down the ramp, down another hall, up a flight of stairs, down another hall, down another hall then up two flights of stairs in order to finally get to his/her destination. This journey needs to occur in four minutes. The band room is surrounded on all sides by academic classrooms making it hard for students to concentrate while hearing rhythms and music pouring through the band room walls. The cafeteria cannot accommodate the student body sufficiently, which cuts down on the students' meal time. The lunch period is scheduled for 40 minutes, yet each lunch period is divided in two 20-minute sessions -- while half of the group is having lunch in the cramped quarters, the other half is at recess. This makes for rushed eating, which is not conducive to a healthy learning environment. Part of the space is used for the district-wide food preparation area. These are just a few reasons why simply turning the existing building into a greener model doesn't make sense.

The proposed plan has academic classrooms for each grade level "housed" together. Students travel from room to room seamlessly. A multipurpose room is part of each grade level central to their academic rooms. The houses are designed to be away from the band room and other special classes. The design is barrier free, allowing all students the right and ability to get from class to class. With the proposed design, the cafeteria would not serve the same role it does now. It would only have serving capacity and not be preparing food for the entire district. This would allow for more dining space. Given the larger capacity, schedule changes could accommodate longer lunches.

Please join me in voting yes on Feb. 9 for the renovations that the Board of Education has proposed on the middle school.

Elise Gold
Gardiner

Terence Ward's Letter to the Editor 01/27/10: Don't Allow Ignorance to Cast a Vote

2010-01-30T15:40:00.001-08:00

I'm trying to read between the lines of the message being sent by those who are opposed to renovating the New Paltz Middle School.

It's going to cost us far too much money, they say. They say it with full-page ads in the New Paltz Times (which run $800, I've heard) and they say it with mass-produced lawn signs. The supporters are sticking to writing letters and repainting their old signs.

They say it with a lot of landlords who are paying taxes that will not directly benefit them or their children. Many of the supporters have children in the school system (although some of us are supporting it because it benefits the community, which we see as a home, not a revenue source).

They never say they don't want to support education, even though some of them probably do. People get emotional about children (some love them, some hate them) and it's probably for the best to leave emotions out of the discussion because they just cloud the issue.

They find interesting ways to frame their arguments. This week's paper has several folks pointing to the gym roof collapse as proof that this renovation isn't necessary. I'm intrigued -- wouldn't a freshly-renovated building require less maintenance and be less likely to have problems?

They never refute the claims that construction costs are lower now than they will be in the future, which lowers the project costs.

They complain about the lack of community involvement in the process, which has been ongoing for three years and has included articles, blog posts, superintendent coffees in the morning, informational meetings with discussions at night and two full election cycles that saw two outspoken supporters of the project win seats on the Board of Education. I think everyone has the right to air their views, but please don't insult my intelligence by suggesting that lack of interest on doing so somehow taints the process. Should Maria Rice have offered wine and cheese to entice you, or would that just raise your tax-dollar-wasting hackles a bit more?

Lagusta Yearwood said that those in opposition can simply be ignored and I wish I could agree. However, the people who complain about lack of community involvement are feeding inaccurate and incomplete information to people who are equally inattentive and who might just cast an uninformed vote. I won't try to change somebody's mind, but I sure as hell will make sure I correct any mistakes they are basing that decision on. The worst thing we can do for New Paltz education is allow ignorance to cast a vote.

Terence P. Ward
New Paltz

Dan Guenther's Letter to the Editor 01/27/10: Vote "Yes" on the School Board Referendum

2010-01-30T15:39:00.001-08:00

"Beep Beep. This is a test, This is only a test. If this were a real emergency..."

And if, because of these challenging economic times, we fail to support our schools, our teachers and our children, we will bring on a real emergency. Let's pass the test and vote "yes" on the school board referendum.

Dan Guenther
New Paltz

Steve Greenfield's Letter to the Editor 01/27/10: Voting Yes is the Right Thing To Do

2010-01-30T15:38:00.001-08:00

What kind of building do we use to teach New Paltz Middle School students? The majority of it is classrooms and gyms intended for an entire school system -- its spaces designed for kindergarten as well as high school to suit the educational modalities and regional and national economies of long-ago times. Special education, handicap access, the digital age, childhood obesity, exorbitant energy costs, the "service economy" and a building population of 600 hadn't even been imagined when we last built in 1966. But we are trying to teach the students of today with the mandates of today and the economy of today in a structure that was not designed to be adaptable to today's needs.

When our most recent addition was built, manufacturing accounted for 30% of jobs in America. Now that's down to 9% and going down every year. Construction is down to 4%. And due to the stockpile and tighter credit, that figure won't grow and is likely to decline. Agriculture, fishing and forestry are below one-half of a percentage point. Eighty percent of the economy is in categories described by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as "managerial, professional, technical, sales, office, other services." And a substantial number of jobs categorized in blue-collar sectors are increasingly digital and robotic, requiring modern technical skills above physical strength and agility.

So when some say we should persist in educating our students in old buildings that were created when the overwhelming majority of jobs into which we expected our kids to emerge were blue-collar, or with classrooms that cannot be wired for the knowledge needed for today's economy, what are they really saying? Sure, we're in a downturn, but doesn't emergence from that depend entirely upon preparing our young people for the segments of the world economy still centered in the United States? When recovery starts, do we really want our graduates at a disadvantage in competing for jobs or additional training in college? Do we abandon them in their hour of need and in the hour when their country needs them? Our own children?

Since 1966, our economy has completely transformed and post-graduation goals and requirements have transformed along with it. Educational mandates and modalities have completely transformed. The local population has dramatically multiplied. I wish I could cap this off by saying "but our middle school has remained the same," but I can't, because the truth is it has substantially deteriorated, so much so that it will take at least $10 million right now just to keep it functioning and not even for very long based on the school's age and physical condition.

Our community was informed of this two years ago when the School Board sought input on how to proceed. The response was overwhelming and of nearly one voice -- renovate, expand and improve the middle school on its current site. Since then this community has elected new board members largely on their commitment to carrying through on that mandate. Now we are nearing the critical date on which we will vote to implement that which we asked the board and administration to spend two years developing -- a modern middle school designed for 21st-century education and economies in the heart of New Paltz with the historic 1930 building preserved. The last fear standing between us and a better future for our children -- the prospects for reductions in state building aid -- are now relieved as Governor Paterson's just-released budget, while containing a full spectrum of state-wide spending reductions, actually increases school building aid by $222 million. This work is as much a priority in Albany as it is for our district.

On Tuesday, Feb. 9t please support the New Paltz Middle School renovation and ask your acquaintances and entire community to do the same. It's the right thing to do.

Steve Greenfield
New Paltz

Judy Mage's Letter to the Editor 01/27/10: Voting Yes for the Middle School

2010-01-30T15:37:00.001-08:00

Like most taxpayers in New Paltz, I am not happy at the prospect of any addition to my tax burden. I'm retired and on a fixed income and school, village, town and county taxes take a big bite. But so do federal taxes -- a huge percentage of which go to paying for past, present and future military expenses. And there seems to be nothing I can do to change this. Whereas I COULD with my vote possibly prevent any more of my income going to pay for a middle school renovation, which will not benefit me personally at all -- my son having graduated from the New Paltz schools back in 1991. But the question is: Is this where I should draw the line? And after reading all the letters and hearing all the arguments, I have decided to vote yes and I urge everyone who cares about the future of our community to join me in voting yes.

To me, the most crucial argument is this one: For the health and safety of current and future generations of the children of our community, an extensive middle school renovation really needs to be done and it is only going to be more expensive if we put it off to some distant time when presumably we would be economically better off. It's just like putting off needed repairs to our own homes and then finding that they now cost a lot more than the original estimates. In the end, I feel that voting yes is, for me, the right choice and even if it hurts, the moral choice.

Judy Mage
New Paltz

Rebecca Rotzler and Amy Mosbacher's Letter to the Editor 01/27/10: Joining forces

2010-01-30T15:36:00.001-08:00

Save the New Paltz Middle School and New Paltz Middle School YES! are joining forces. After very careful consideration of the proposed middle school project and a survey of our membership which found widespread support, Save the New Paltz Middle School is endorsing the project and is urging members and the wider New Paltz Central School District community to vote yes for the referendum on Feb. 9, 2010.

Save the New Paltz Middle School was created in January 2008 when our community mobilized to convince the school board to vote to keep the middle school in the heart of the village. On Jan. 30, 2008, Save the Middle School presented the New Paltz Central School District with a petition. This petition, signed by over 850 district residents, collected in less than two weeks, clearly stated: "We, the undersigned, are concerned citizens who urge the board to act now to commit to keep the middle school at its current location."

Following attendance by Save the Middle School members at a multitude of school board meetings over the past two years, a diligent and focused analysis of the renovation plan and the membership survey affirming widespread support, Save the New Paltz Middle School is firmly endorsing the call for district residents to vote yes on the bond referendum Feb. 9, 2010.

As a result, Save the Middle School is merging with Middle School YES!, a group of citizens whose goal is to provide accurate news and information to residents of the New Paltz Central School District about the upcoming Feb. 9, 2010, bond referendum vote and the importance of voting YES! The vote will be held from noon to 9 p.m. at the high school.

You can e-mail Middle School YES! at NPMiddleSchoolYES@gmail.com. You can find us on Facebook by searching for "New Paltz Middle School YES!" and our website is www.newpaltzmiddleschoolyes.blogspot.com.

Rebecca Rotzler and Amy Mosbacher
New Paltz

Norman Turner's Letter to the Editor 01/27/10: Support the Bond for Our School

2010-01-30T15:35:00.001-08:00

It's a no-brainer, really. If the New Paltz Middle School isn't replaced now, we taxpayers will be throwing more money into an outmoded building that costs plenty in energy bills and frequent repairs. That doesn't make a shred of sense. And what will it cost us to deal with the problem further down the road? Does anyone really believe that interest rates are going to stay at their current low?

Watch out for the misinformation, some of it deliberate. Instead, do the math yourself. The numbers are right there on the District website. There's no reason to think them wrong. The total projected cost of the bond, with interest, is about $34 million, not some crazy number people are yelling about. The average cost per year to us, if we happen to own a house valued at the median of $297,700.00, is $162.60. We all get sticker shock when we open our tax bills, but that's partly because we get hit with a lump sum. $162.60 a year is around 45 cents a day.

We've been presented with a good plan for something that must be done. Getting bogged down in endless controversy and delays would be a costly mistake. Yeah, the taxes are painful, but that's an Albany problem more than a local one. It's Albany that does state budgets, state taxes and state aid to school budgets and capital projects, not school boards. Saying no to this project won't bother a single politician.

Send Albany a message by voting against State legislators. Let's clear that mess out. But support the bond for our school.

Norman Turner
New Paltz

Larry Braun's Letter to the Editor 01/27/10: The Right Time to Borrow and Build

2010-01-30T15:34:00.000-08:00

Since early December, I've read and heard more than 100 comments about the aged New Paltz Middle School. It is agreed the building constructed in 1930 has become a financial burden; it has been found to be unhealthy and unsafe; it is not ADA compliant; and it no longer properly serves the educational needs of the community.

The vast majority of those that commented chose renovation over building new. They favor the current center-of-town location and the lower cost and higher state aid of renovation rather than a new building on new land at the edge of town.

The debate developed more fiction than fact. The most glaring misrepresentation is the cost of the renovation project to the taxpayers. Early on full-page ads claimed the cost to be $80M. Lately, by way of other innovative accounting, $77M has appeared in a letter in the New Paltz Times. But mostly, $50M is used, which is arrived at by ignoring state aid. These are all false. Go to www.newpaltzk12.ny.us to get the correct cost to the district taxpayers: $29,750,000.

For 60 years, I've been involved in school issues. Working with Board of Education members has been a rewarding experience. I've found these men and women to be true pubic servants. They are ordinary citizens who devote their free time working long hours without pay. They take a lot of abuse and criticism, but pay the same tax rates their decisions impose on the rest of us. They deserve our respect and thanks.

Some taxpayers have never seen a tax they cannot hate. More problematic are those who feel it unjust to pay school taxes once their children have completed their elementary and high school education. Perhaps they never considered the people who paid school taxes while they, or their children, attended school. In my case, I have no grandchildren and my son has been out of school for 35 years. I continue to pay school taxes because education is a living entity that cannot be turned off. An educated society is our means to a healthy future.

With the economy so depressed, this is the right time to borrow and build. Low interest rates and favorable construction competition makes this the ideal time to fix the middle school. Waiting two years, as some suggest, will not make things better. It is common knowledge in the financial and economic communities that this recession and its high unemployment rates will not end in two years.

New Paltz voted yes in 1930 to build a new school and paid for it through the decade of the Great Depression. That school served New Paltz for 80 years. Vote yes on Feb. 9 to renovate the middle school and give it a new life.

Larry Braun
Gardiner

FABULOUS NEWS: TSEC Application to Congressman Hinchey Designed to Support Sustainable, Clean Energy Funding for New Paltz Middle School

2010-01-29T15:00:00.001-08:00

Application to Congressman Hinchey Designed to Support Sustainable, Clean Energy Funding for New Paltz Middle School

NEW PALTZ–Thanks to Congressman Maurice Hinchey, the New Paltz Central School District is hoping to secure some additional funding for the anticipated costs of High Performance energy options included in its proposed Middle School addition and renovations that is being placed before voters on February 9.

The Solar Energy Consortium (TSEC), a not-for-profit group that provides funding, facilities, personnel, and support for research/development, application/design, pilot manufacturing, and related activities to further energy resources conservation and development, is submitting a $470,000 Appropriations Application for government funding on behalf of the New Paltz Central School District through Congressman Hinchey’s office. The $470,000 sought from the State’s Energy and Water Bill would be used to fund a portion of the solar electric and solar thermal systems included in the New Paltz Middle School’s proposed renovations in order to improve the energy efficiency of the building and demonstrate the use of renewable energy sources for students, staff, and community.

Many High Performance opportunities designed to provide a healthy and productive environment that is cost effective to maintain and operate, as well as preserves natural resources while conserving energy, were included in the plans developed to address the antiquated Middle School’s educational and infrastructural deficiencies. The final plans will be designed using NY-CHPS High Performance School Guidelines and the LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System™ to achieve maximum sustainability and lower operating costs. Examples include the use of a 40KW Photovoltaic System for the roof to help produce a portion of the electricity, a solar thermal system for hot water, and finally a geothermal heating and ventilation (HVAC) system.

The TSEC project has designated approximately $310,000 toward these systems with an additional $160,000 for solar hot water systems. If approved, the funding from Congressman Hinchey’s appropriations would offset the project expenses and thereby lower the local share of the project cost.

“It was important that we address the existing building’s carbon footprint for energy loss, which is significant and represents the opposite of Green community values. It is for this reason that the potential renovations and construction to the New Paltz Middle School will be undertaken with the responsibility and good environmental stewardship that is held in the highest regard by the New Paltz community and is a priority of the Board of Education,” says Kathleen (KT) Tobin-Flusser, a member of the New Paltz Board of Education who ran for the Board on a platform that embraced a responsible green approach to creating a 21st Century New Paltz Middle School at its current location.

“This project will provide a model for sustainable energy use in a public school setting and incorporate those technologies into the curriculum. It will also serve as a model for other schools in New York State,” says Tobin-Flusser.

Interest in the use of green technologies goes further than the New Paltz community, however. The Hudson Valley region is the home of many businesses and a strong employment and training program focused on sustainable, clean energy services. The TSEC application highlights the fact that the proposed $49.8 million New Paltz project will generate work for skilled green technology construction workers, architects, and engineers. The maintenance of the buildings’ renewable energy systems will also demand a skilled workforce in these new technologies. The local Clean Energy Training Academy (CETA), offered through Ulster BOCES in partnership with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), is recognized as a leader in New York State in the field of photovoltaic, solar thermal, wind, geothermal and weatherization/energy efficiency education and training.

“As the school is in the center of the town, it also provides a clear statement regarding the community’s commitment to energy efficiency, sustainability, and green technology,” concludes Tobin-Flusser.
ABOUT THE SOLAR ENERGY CONSORTIUM (TSEC):

Vision & Mission

The Solar Energy Consortium envisions a world where solar energy is everywhere, supplying clean, reliable, sustainable power.

The Solar Energy Consortium’s (TSEC) mission is to double the efficiency of photovoltaic systems, to halve the installed cost of solar energy systems, to simplify the installation of solar energy systems, and to develop unique photovoltaic forms for use in urban environments.

History:

Sine 2007, TSEC has been working as a not-for-profit 501 (C) (3) to meet the demand for energy independence and sustainability in New York State and nationally. According to its website, TSEC exists for charitable, scientific, and educational purposes in order to support and foster scientific research and technology development and disseminate advances in knowledge in the fields of basic and applied research on solar energy products, systems, and services. TSEC provides funding, facilities, personnel, and support for research and development, application and design, pilot manufacturing, and related activities to further energy resources conservation and development.

TSEC has partners across the world, working daily to advance the leading edge of photovoltaic technology, to commercialize technology through new company formation, and to help smaller businesses and labs for these emerging technologies to be successful. TSEC also works closely with its partners and government at all levels to ensure they have the necessary information to make informed decisions about solar energy.

For more information about The Solar Energy Consortium (TSEC), visit their website at http://thesolarec.org.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

NYSERDA: www.nyserda.org

LEED: www.usgbc.org

CHPS: www.chps.net

U.S. Green Building Council on Green Schools: www.greenschoolbuildings.org

District Newsletter on the Project

2010-01-29T07:20:00.000-08:00

Click here for the District Newsletter on the Project

It should be arriving in your mailbox soon!

Decision Time: New Paltz Times 01/28/10

2010-01-28T20:42:00.000-08:00

New Paltz school board releases a breakdown in costs for the $49.78m middle school renovation

by Mike Townshend
The proposed $49.78 million renovation for the New Paltz Middle School has become a topic of passion and division within town. Opponents of the renovation deride it as too costly and have accused the school district of downplaying the future interest burden. Proponents point to the advancements in green technology included in the building and the educational possibilities it could bring to kids in New Paltz.

At last week's school board meeting, board President David Dukler again asked people to remain civil and keep Feb. 10 -- the day after the middle school vote -- in mind.

"I understand," he said. "The financial drama of our time continues."

Elsewhere in the community, the battle to win people over to either the pro-renovation or anti-renovation sides has also heated up.

In early January, lawn signs saying that the middle school project would cost $100 million have popped up throughout New Paltz.

According to school board Vice President Don Kerr, those figures are just plain wrong.

"The lawn signs take conservative projections on project costs put out by the school district and manipulates them," Kerr said. "It inflates the current debt of the school district and considers over $30 million in state aid as debt."

With just over $20 million in expected building aid from the state, taxpayers would pay $29.75 million of the middle school renovation's price tag, according to information by the school district.

Kerr also made it a point to stress the fact that construction bids could end up being lower than expected. Project architects have built in a good deal of risk protection into their budget, meaning that it likely is somewhat inflated.

Because the district won't break ground until summer 2011, taxpayers wouldn't see their taxes go up until September 2012. From then, the district would bond the work and would repay that bond within 20 years.

Including the current and proposed debt burden, the average cost for a home assessed at $297,700 -- the median cost in New Paltz -- would be $13.15 per month. Board of Education members voted to keep the middle school worked into their annual four percent tax levy increase -- so it wouldn't represent any bigger of an annual change to taxes than taxpayers have seen in the past few years.

Assuming a three percent annual interest rate on the bond, the district would owe approximately an extra $30 million on the original $49.78 million.

However, what the district would actually pay back to its investors would hinge on what municipal bonds go for when they issue the bond. That interest rate will remain undetermined until that happens.

A breakdown in costs

For the past few weeks, the district has held informational meetings to tell people about the costs and benefits of the project prior to Feb. 9.

Included in the newest slideshow is a breakdown of what all that $49.78 million will go toward buying. Here's that list:

-- New classroom wing and redesigned entryway: $31.25 million.

-- Classroom and hallway renovations: $5.21 million.

-- Renovations to turn the 1930s wing into a new district office: $2.61 million.

-- Cafeteria and kitchen renovations: $1.92 million.

-- New small gym room: $1.37 million.

-- New locker room: $720,000.

-- Slight renovations to current gymnasium: $260,000.

-- Slight renovations to current auditorium: $150,000.

-- High-performance or green building additions: $2.99 million.

-- New parent drop-off loop, parking and entryway work: $400,000.

-- New district office loop, administrative parking work: $300,000.

-- Moving the playground and outdoor dining: $100,000.

-- Improvements to the sports fields: $200,000.

-- Moving the district's central cooking kitchen to high school: $1.71 million.

-- Moving central receiving to the high school: $430,000.

-- Demolition of the old district office building on Main Street: $160,000.

-- Included in the $49.78 is also $500,000 to help cover the costs of relocating students to both Lenape Elementary School and the old Tillson Elementary School.

How green is 'green'?

One large part of the middle school renovation plan has been the proposal to include much more environmentally friendly technologies. Right now, the middle school blasts heat so badly during the winter that teachers often have to open up windows to make sure that kids don't stifle.

A good portion of the green technology is aimed at making the heating and air conditioning top notch and reducing the haphazard nature of what is occurring now, Trustee KT Tobin Flusser said.

The schools plan to investigate $2.99 million in options for adding green technology, such as solar panels or geothermal heating. It also includes less trendy, but needed changes -- including upgrades to insulation, motion sensor lights, more efficient plumbing fixtures and increasing the number of classrooms with natural lighting pouring in from the windows.

That overall green technology number could change -- especially with high-price items, such as geothermal heating and cooling, Tobin Flusser said.

"We won't do it if there's not a good payback," she said. Testing for geothermal would involve digging approximately 80 test wells on the site to see if that renewable energy option would even be viable.

Drilling myriad holes in the ground isn't really something the New Paltz schools could even do before the voters weigh in on the project on Feb. 9, she added.

Relocation plans

Of equal importance to the benefits of a renovated middle school has been developing an acceptable plan for relocating students during the construction period.

"Although our current middle school building is outdated and in need of renovation, it is essential that construction is not undertaken at the expense of our current students' education and development. This is a priority," said Superintendent Maria Rice. "We will ensure that the students who would be relocated during construction are provided with a quality education with all of the opportunities they would have received if they remained in the middle school building."

Relocation is necessary because it is not possible to undertake the desired building additions/renovations without demolishing more than half of the existing classroom spaces. By relocating, the construction phase can be limited to just one school year.

A team of two-dozen stakeholders (consisting of students, parents, teachers, support staff and administrators from across the four school buildings, as well as a representative from SUNY New Paltz) came together for two months to develop the relocation plan. After extensive research, review and deliberation, the team presented their plan to the Board of Education in mid-December.

"Our goal was to cause the least impact as possible at the other buildings, while keeping our middle school program intact," said middle school teacher Barbara Weiner, who was also a representative on the committee.

Specifics of the plan:

-- Grade 6 will remain in the familiar environment of Lenape Elementary School for an additional year, but will attend school on the middle school schedule. The sixth grade students would still travel to and from school with their middle school peers, where they would use a separate bus loop, entrance, classrooms and offices designated for the middle school program. The space is currently leased to Ulster BOCES, who is able to relocate many of their classes for the time period necessary for construction.

Since the middle school schedule begins earlier than the Lenape schedule, there is a block of time in the morning that the older students can access unique classrooms -- such as music, band and physical education -- without causing any scheduling conflicts for the other grades.

"We are happy that space could be arranged for our students to stay with us for an additional year," said Lenape Principal Michelle Martoni. "Since these students are already a part of our school community, the additional year at Lenape will be natural for them. At the same time, the students will also be able to experience the independence they are seeking at this age, since they will follow a middle school schedule and transition to a new middle school principal and expectations."

-- Grades 7 and 8 will relocate to Tillson Elementary School, located behind the Postage Inn in Tillson. The building belongs to the Kingston City School District, who offered it to the District to utilize during the project.

"Environment plays an important part in getting students settled in and ready to learn, so having an actual school -- with all the components of an educational setting -- available to us is a great asset," said Weiner.

The Tillson site, which was last used as an alternative high school by Ulster BOCES, is adequately sized for the grade 7-8 students and features 14-16 classrooms, plus other spaces like a gymnasium, stage, kitchen, offices, athletic fields and even a school garden area. Parking and a bus loop also exist.

-- The relocation plan supports the scheduling of appropriate courses for meeting State and Federal requirements, as well as New Paltz Central School's own educational standards. Appropriately equipped classrooms will be available.

"This plan also allows us to keep all our teaching teams intact. Other than the location, students will receive the same programs, services, field trips and opportunities that would have been available at our middle school building," said Weiner. "The middle school staff has a history of being able to provide the best possible education under less than desirable circumstances, we will be vigilant in ensuring that quality learning is taking place, just as it does now."

-- All budgeted co-curricular activities (clubs) and sports for grades 6-8 will continue to be offered. Shuttles will be available to transport students to identified locations where they will join their other middle school peers for activities. The Tillson grounds contain a soccer field and additional field space that can be used for skill practices and drills. The cross-country team will be able to use the grounds for their practices. The Tillson gymnasium can also serve some indoor sports.

Poll workers

New Paltz school board members unanimously approved a list of seven poll workers for the Feb. 9 special election on the proposed $49.78 million middle school renovation last week.

While the vote was not usually the kind of thing that would draw comment, much less controversy, the Board of Education entertained a lengthy and lively public comment session on Jan. 20. Many of the people speaking spoke to the possible elimination of New Paltz resident Nora Strano from that list.

Strano, who is an outspoken opponent of the middle school renovation, said she felt like the school board had launched "personal attacks on me."

She also rebuked six of the board members for their "extreme bullying of a particular board member." Strano was alluding to the board's treatment of Edgar Rodriguez -- the only member to vote against placing the renovation project on the ballot.

Rodriguez disliked the project because he thought that taxpayers in New Paltz could not deal with the burden of the $49.78 million project and the subsequent interest the district would shoulder.

Robert Gabrielli, also an opponent of renovation, said he felt like the school board would have crossed the line if they didn't allow Strano to work the polls.

"You can't arbitrarily limit dissent," Gabrielli said.

Ultimately, the Board of Education voted unanimously to approve all seven names on the list, citing a conversation with their attorney.

Besides Strano, that list includes John Johnson, Elena Maskell, Kathleen Mironchik, Maria C. Davila, Shari Osborn and Floyd Kniffen. The school district's attorney advised them that no one should be excluded from the election workers list -- no matter how they stand on the issue.

Upcoming forums, meetings and tours

Prior to the vote, the school district also plans to hold more public forums. As of press time, a forum was scheduled for Wednesday, (Jan. 27), 7 p.m. at Lenape Elementary School. On Feb. 3, a 7 p.m. public forum will take place at New Paltz Central High School. On Feb. 4, a 6:30 tour of the middle school will be held before a forum at 7 p.m. -- also at New Paltz Middle School.

Where and when to vote

Voters can queue up at the high school polling stations starting at noon on Feb. 9. Polls close at 9 p.m. that evening. The school is located at South Putt Corners Road. In the event schools are closed due to inclement weather, as prescribed by law, the bond vote will take place as scheduled unless a state of emergency is declared by Ulster County.

For more complete information on the project budget overall, head to npcsdms.edublogs.org.

Vote By Absentee If You Need To! Here's How:

2010-01-27T09:18:00.000-08:00

How Can I Obtain an Absentee Ballot?

Absentee Ballots are available for qualified voters who are unable to vote at the polls on Tuesday, February 9. Applications for absentee ballots may be obtained at the Office of the District Clerk at least seven (7) days prior to said Special District Meeting if the ballot is to mailed to the voter, or the day before the Special District Meeting if the ballot will be delivered personally to the voter. Written requests for absentee ballots must be made at least seven (7) days and no more than thirty (30) days prior to said Special District Meeting. Absentee ballots must be received at the Office of the District Clerk by no later than 5 PM Prevailing Time) on February 9, 2010, the date set for said Special District Meeting. For more information about obtaining Absentee Ballots, please call the District Clerk at (845) 256-4020.

A History Lesson

2010-01-26T20:40:00.000-08:00

The New Paltz Middle School was built in 1930 to house the 10th, 11th, and 12th grades that were formerly educated on the Normal School campus, now SUNY New Paltz.

When the state alerted the village that it would have to take over the last three years of high school education there was considerable debate about where the school should be built and how much it should cost.

August 1929, Millard Dubois, quoted in the New Paltz Independent, the school should "not be far from the center of the village".

November 1929, Bryun Hasbrouck, quoted in the New Paltz Independent, on the topic of the debate about the school, urges the paper and the district to "make clear a subject that has probably been hazy in the minds of many people."

January 1930, in an editorial in the New Paltz Independent, a cry to move forward with the school, "Because New Paltz voters are far too self-respecting to commit the foolish errors made by so many towns when this kind of decision has to be made, frequently holding up a needed program for years, adding thousands of unnecessary expense."

January 1930, Elting Harp quoted in the New Paltz Independent, notes in response to opposition to the project, "It is seldom, if ever, in an election that involves the spending of money that some people do not say the price is too high."

February 1930, reported in the New Paltz Independent, on the New Paltz Lumber Company's donation of athletic fields, "The deed conveying title is to contain a reversionary clause to the effect that if said tract ceases to be used as an athletic field, recreation center or playground in connection with educational purposes, it shall revert to the New Paltz Lumber Company, it's successor or assigns."

April 1930, reported in the New Paltz Independent, the state played an active role in site selection and building design and would pay a quarter of the estimated $190,000 to build the school. Further, in an editorial response to attacks on the district and board, "...the board has worked with painstaking care to meet the requirements of Albany and at the same time conserved our taxpayers' money... No stone has been left unturned."

May 1930, the New Paltz Independent reports: Voters accept the $190,000 plan with 154 for and 108 against. One anti-voter is quoted, "What is the use of a fine building if people are too poor to send their children to school"? A supporter is quoted, "If we vote it down, the extra trouble will make it cost just as much in the end."

August 1930, the New Paltz Independent reports: actual bids came in lower than expected, three firms from Kingston were selected, for a total cost of about $160,000. (Note, even in the Depression era, the state did pay its share.)

October 1930, in his building dedication speech, Superintendent Gillette: "I have attempted to indicate briefly, that, according to recorded experiences of the past, our generation will be called upon to make a contribution to the world's educational progress and young men and women whom this building will serve, will strive to contribute their share."

All research cited here was conducted at the Haviland-Heidgerd Historical Collection, Elting Library. All direct quotes appeared in the New Paltz Independent.

Steven Greenfield in the Poughkeepsie Journal 01/21/10: New Paltz Middle School Renovations Are Affordable Necessity

2010-01-25T14:49:00.000-08:00

What kind of building do we use to teach New Paltz Middle School students? The majority of it is classrooms and gyms intended for an entire school system, its spaces designed for kindergarten as well as high school, to suit the educational modalities and regional and national economies of long-ago times. Special education, handicap access, the digital age, childhood obesity, exhorbitant energy costs, the "service economy," and a building population of 600 hadn't even been imagined when we last built in 1966. But we are trying to teach the students of today, with the mandates of today, and the economy of today in a structure that was not designed to be adaptable to today's needs.

When our most recent addition was built, manufacturing accounted for 30% of jobs in America. Now that's down to 9%, and going down every year. Construction is down to 4%, and due to the stockpile and tighter credit, that figure won't grow, and is likely to decline. Agriculture, fishing, and forestry are below one-half of a percentage point. 80% of the economy is in categories described by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as "managerial, professional, technical, sales, office, other services." And a substantial number of jobs categorized in blue-collar sectors are increasingly digital and robotic, requiring modern technical skills above physical strength and agility.

So when some say we should persist in educating our students in old buildings that were created when the overwhelming majority of jobs into which we expected our kids to emerge were blue-collar, or with classrooms that cannot be wired for the knowledge needed for today's economy, what are they really saying? Sure, we're in a downturn, but doesn't emergence from that depend entirely upon preparing our young people for the segments of the world economy still centered in the United States? When recovery starts, do we really want our graduates at a disadvantage in competing for jobs or additional training in college? Do we abandon them in their hour of need, and in the hour when their country needs them? Our own children?

Since 1966 our economy has completely transformed, and post-graduation goals and requirements have transformed along with it. Educational mandates and modalities have completely transformed. The local population has dramatically multiplied. I wish I could cap this off by saying "but our Middle School has remained the same," but I can't, because the truth is, it has substantially deteriorated, so much so that it will take at least $10 million, right now, just to keep it functioning, and not even for very long based on the school's age and physical condition.

Our community was informed of this two years ago when the School Board sought input on how to proceed. The response was overwhelming, and of nearly one voice: renovate, expand, and improve the Middle School on its current site. Since then this community has elected new board members largely on their commitment to carrying through on that mandate. Now we are nearing the critical date on which we will vote to implement that which we asked the board and administration to spend two years developing: a modern Middle School designed for 21st century education and economies, in the heart of New Paltz, with the historic 1930 building preserved. The last fear standing between us and a better future for our children, the prospects for reductions in state building aid, are now relieved, as Governor Paterson's just-released budget, while containing a full spectrum of state-wide spending reductions, actually increases school building aid by $222 million. This work is as much a priority in Albany as it is for our district.

On Tuesday, February 9th, please support the New Paltz Middle School renovation, and ask your acquaintances and entire community to do the same. It's the right thing to do.

Steven Greenfield
New Paltz

Middle School YES! Pro-Project People Speak Out!

2010-01-24T07:38:00.000-08:00

Please be patient, it takes a couple minutes to load.

Here is the direct link to the video - http://www.motionbox.com/videos/4c97dbb91c19e5c5c3?type=sd

Or you can direct people via our website - http://newpaltzmiddleschoolyes.blogspot.com/2010/01/middle-school-yes-pro-project-people.html

What Can You Do To Help?

2010-01-23T16:01:00.000-08:00

There are only 17 days till the Middle School vote! What can YOU to do HELP?

#1 Write a letter to the editor. The deadline for the LAST New Paltz Times before the vote is Friday, 1/29, at 3:00pm. Email letters to: newpaltztimes@ulsterpublishing.com

#2 Put out a lawn sign and/or help distribute lawn signs. Email NPMiddleSchoolYES@gmail.com for details.

#3 Host a gathering in order to tell your friends about the importance of voting YES!

#4 Send emails to your friends about Save the Middle Schools' merge with Middle School YES!, links to our website and Facebook group, the district's webblog, and soon we will have the video online so you can send that link as well.

Press release: http://newpaltzmiddleschoolyes.blogspot.com/2010/01/save-middle-school-endorses-proposed.html

Our website: http://newpaltzmiddleschoolyes.blogspot.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/New-Paltz-Middle-School-YES/237960830099?ref=nf

District Webblog: http://npcsdms.edublogs.org/

#5 Attend and encourage your friends to attend the remaining presentations on the project:

January 27 7:00 PM Lenape Elementary School
February 4 6:30 PM Tours of the Middle School
February 4 7:00 PM New Paltz Middle School Gym

#6 Put up a sign in your car or business window. Download sign here: http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B1fDgRwvRVcqMjI2YWU0MGMtYzgxMS00ZjlmLTkzM2ItY2QwOTE0NDA0MjRj&hl=en

#7 Contribute money. Middle School YES! is collecting donations to help get the word out to voters about the importance of voting YES! on the bond. Checks should be made out to New Paltz Middle School YES! and mailed to this address: New Paltz Middle School YES! c/o Amy Mosbacher, 2 Woodland Drive, New Paltz, 12561

William Weinstein's Letter to the Editor 01/21/10: Be Creative and Bold

2010-01-22T19:10:00.000-08:00

I believe it's critical to vote yes in February's referendum on renovating the middle school.

The plan formulated by the board is a plan that will work, with the least expense - the least expense actually worth making - the greatest bang for the buck, and the least displacement of our kids.

There is a lot of rumor-mongering afloat in town at the moment. I watched the video of concerned citizens, my good neighbors, speaking out against the project (two or three recently had letters to this paper) and after thinking about it, I don't believe their well-intentioned criticisms hold water. For instance, yes, the New Paltz schools administration will move into the new building. But this will save the expense of renting the building at Chestnut and H.W. Dubois, as is currently the case.

The yearly tax impact for a $300,000 median-valued home will be about $52 to $57 each year for the first four years, with likely reductions after that. In other words, the tax bill will likely come down after the first four years.

Will this send residents packing in droves in toward the welcoming arms of South Carolina? I don't think so. A reasonable expense of our tax dollars will remake a school that is sub-par and decrepit, in the process helping to keep New Paltz educationally vibrant and attractive to families with young children.

Even a school district as excellent as ours needs to innovate in order to move forward, and innovation sometimes costs money.

There have been accusations that this plan is a divisive one, pitting one segment of our neighborly fabric against another. I ask with total respect for my neighbors' concerns: which is more divisive, a detailed plan submitted after hundreds of hours of work in public forums by a board of education whose names and phone numbers are published for all to see, and supported by New Paltz citizens who sign their names at the bottom of their letters; or an anonymous group that makes unfounded allegations under the banner of "Concerned Citizens of New Paltz" and at the last minute asks for a do-over?

One early suggestion was for an indoor swimming pool at the school, for the emtire community, an amenity that swimming-oriented New Paltz would have greatly benefited from. It will never happen now.

These are not easy times for most of us. Paradoxically, that's why this is the time to pool our money as a community for community benefit. Let's be creative and bold, not fearful, in uncertain times. New Paltz's priority should be to create a framework for the best education possible, not to retreat in the face of national priorities set by larger forces whose values do not center on education.

The plan presented by the Board of Education is a good and thoughtful plan. It is cost-effective. Given the state of the economy, you could even call it ingenious. It has benefits that reach far into the future on many levels. Please vote YES on February 9. And on February 10, let's all pull together, no matter the outcome.

William Weinstein
New Paltz

Matthew Maley's Letter to the Editor 01/21/10: The Best Time is Now

2010-01-22T19:08:00.001-08:00

I support the renovations.

I toured the middle school two years ago when the school board first asked for public input. I saw the cracks in the foundation. I witnessed the overheated gymnasium. I climbed to areas of the school inaccessible to handicapped students.

Truth is there will never be a good time in the near future to fix this school. Our economy will not magically fix itself in a year or two...or three. But neither will the middle school.

I appreciate the majority of honest, frank opinions and concerns people have been voicing from both sides of this issue. I respect and understand their opinions because it's based on intelligent, dynamic debate from people who are publicly involved and care equally about our community.

But there is a small, increasingly vocal opposition that have brought this debate off the rails. So, in my opinion: When the over-inflated cost some people keep repeating in the paper doesn't take into account state funding and tax incentives, they are either ill-informed or disingenuous. When the school board is accused of sneaking this project through without enough review and public input, I ask where were you during the last two years when the board literally begged for more public input? To those too scared of letting their opinions be heard in fear of repercussions, the school board was voted in by the community. They are our neighbors, not a medieval panel that will take your children and over-tax your home if you voice dissent.

Finally, this is not some frivolous extravagance we want to lavish on our children! I simply don't understand this argument. It's not a giant Xbox. This is a 21st-century school generations of children will learn and grow in. And green technology will make it increasingly more affordable over the decades to come.

Matthew Maley
New Paltz

Adin Gold's Letter to the Editor 01/21/10: Needs and Wants

2010-01-22T19:07:00.000-08:00

I am a 13-year-old eighth grader in the New Paltz middle school. In kindergarten I learned a valuable lesson. That lesson is to be able to determine the difference between a need and a want. This applies to many things. Whether you need or want the latest iPod, need or want a birthday present, and pretty much need or want anything.

The reason I am talking about needs and wants is because of our need to renovate the New Paltz middle school. For example, the boys' bathroom in the sixth-grade wing has three sinks. Two of them do not work. One of them has only hot water.

Also, in my social-studies class we are constantly disturbed by music coming from the band room. This is an unnecessary distraction that interferes with learning.

Another example, maybe the most urgent one, is heat. In the winter the heat in classrooms is either way too cold or way too hot. On the third floor, in some classrooms, the temperature has risen to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

I know it may be hard to listen to an opinion from someone who doesn't even pay taxes. But please, please, do not vote against the renovation because of the money. Please vote for the renovation because it is a need, and we will have to do it eventually.

Adin Gold
Gardiner

Don Kerr's Letter to the Editor 01/21/10: No State Aid, No Project

2010-01-22T19:05:00.001-08:00

What follows is from me, speaking as an individual and not as a representative of any group or board.

In a thoughtful community such as ours, people know better than to look to lawn signs for accurate information. The level of misinformation reflected on lawn signs that sprung up last weekend regarding the middle school is disappointing. In this community, we can take a hard issue and figure it out without dumbing it down.

The lawn signs take conservative projections on project cost put out by the school district and manipulates them. It inflates the current debt of the school district, and considers over $30 million in state aid as debt. Assertions in the signs ignore the fact that bids should come in lower than projected and that the district's estimates inflate interest rates to cover worst-case scenarios. The most curious concern out there is that the project would move forward at all under such worst-case scenarios.

What if the state aid does not come? Loss of state building aid (which is separate from the operations aid that the governor talks about) is not a real possibility. Such cuts have never happened and have never even been mentioned in Albany, but New Paltz has a plan in place just the same.

As stated publicly by the president of the school board, if there were any question about the state meeting its obligations to New Paltz in state building aid, the middle-school project would not break ground. Once the project had broken ground, the state would be legally and contractually bound to make the payments. Loss of state building aid has never been discussed in Albany, and, speaking for myself, is fairly described by terms such as fantasy, red herring and scare tactic.

I urge people to continue to seek accurate information and credible answers to their questions.

Donald Kerr
New Paltz

Maria Davila's Letter to the Editor 01/21/10: The New Cost is Lower

2010-01-22T19:04:00.001-08:00

It is very important for people to get out to the polls at the high school on February 9 and vote yes for the New Paltz middle-school renovations. The new anticipated project cost has been lowered to $49.78 million, and after state aid only $29.75 [million] needs to be covered by the taxpayers of New Paltz. The new funding strategy allows bonding to be delayed, so taxpayers will not feel the impact (of a 1.1% tax increase: how small!) until September 2012. This new lowered cost is all the more reason to vote yes and not put the project off when costs will be higher. It is also important to remember that a good education is invaluable and necessary, and a proper facility to learn in is imperative to receiving a proper education.

Our middle school will be undergoing infrastructure improvements in the areas of a mechanical ventilation system for top-notch air quality, an efficient hot-water heating system, air conditioning so that summer weather does not interfere with learning, cast-iron drainpipes, a fire protection system, LED exit lights, and plenty of other safety and environmentally conscious upgrades.

As many have said, the place is here and the time is now. Our students can't afford to wait any longer. The current building is not conducive to the educational process. It is time to renovate, not relocate.

Let's put the greed over keeping our dollars to ourselves, and invest in the smartest option; the education of those who will be running our state, county, and town in the next couple of decades!

Maria Davila
Gardiner

Andi Weiss Bartczak's Letter to the Editor 01/21/10: I was Impressed

2010-01-22T19:02:00.001-08:00

The referendum on whether to spend tens of millions of dollars on replacing our present middle school is coming up. I went to one of the public meetings last year, dubious about all the proposed features. I came away impressed with the project and the rationales for doing it and doing it now. The school board has cut several million dollars from the project and I agree that now is the time to give our middle school students a good place for learning and give us taxpayers and residents a middle school that consumes less energy (and therefore less of our school taxes). As I read somewhere, a project like this that creates a building that will last for decades will take a relatively small savings of energy costs and multiply it by each year the building is used.

Some costs of construction are lowered because of Bush's Great Recession, so now is the time to get more bang for our bucks. And we will be putting people to work, who will be paying more income and business taxes.

Andi Weiss Bartczak
Gardiner

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

2010-01-22T14:43:00.000-08:00

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

SAVE THE MIDDLE SCHOOL ENDORSES PROPOSED MIDDLE SCHOOL PLAN AND IS JOINING FORCES WITH MIDDLE SCHOOL YES!

2010-01-21T08:35:00.000-08:00

Save the New Paltz Middle School and New Paltz Middle School YES! are joining forces.

After very careful consideration of the proposed Middle School Project and a survey of their membership which found widespread support, Save the New Paltz Middle School is endorsing the project and is urging members and the wider New Paltz Central School District community to vote yes for the referendum on February 9th, 2010.

Save the New Paltz Middle School was created in January 2008 when our community mobilized to convince the school board to vote to keep the Middle School in the heart of the village. On January 30th, 2008, Save the Middle School presented the New Paltz Central School District with a petition. This petition, signed by over 850 district residents, collected in less than two weeks, clearly stated: “We, the undersigned, are concerned citizens who urge the board to act now to commit to keep the Middle School at its current location.”

Following attendance by Save the Middle School members at a multitude of school board meetings over the past two years, a diligent and focused analysis of the renovation plan, and the membership survey affirming widespread support, Save the New Paltz Middle School is firmly endorsing the call for district residents to vote YES! on the bond referendum February 9th, 2010.

As a result, Save the Middle School is merging with Middle School YES!, a group of citizens whose goal is to provide accurate news and information to residents of the New Paltz Central School District about the upcoming February 9th, 2010, bond referendum vote and the importance of voting YES! The vote will be held from 12pm to 9pm at the High School.

You can email Middle School YES! at NPMiddleSchoolYES@gmail.com. You can them find them on Facebook by searching “New Paltz Middle School YES!” and their website is www.newpaltzmiddleschoolyes.blogspot.com.

Gadfly Terence Ward: What the Middle School Opposition is Saying

2010-01-21T08:34:00.000-08:00

Gadfly Terence Ward:

I'm trying to read between the lines of the message being sent by those who are opposed to renovating the Middle School.

* It's going to cost us far too much money, they say. They say it with full-page ads in the New Paltz Times (which run $800, I've heard), and they say it with mass-produced lawn signs. The supporters are sticking to writing letters and repainting their old signs.
* They say it with a lot of landlords, who are paying taxes that will not directly benefit them or their children. Many of the supporters have children in the school system (although some of us are supporting it because it benefits the community, which we see as a home, not a revenue source).
* They never say they don't want to support education, even though some of them probably do. People get emotional about children (some love them, some hate them) and it's probably for the best to leave emotions out of the discussion because they just cloud the issue.
* They find interesting ways to frame their arguments. This week's paper has several folks pointing to the gym roof collapse is proof that this renovation isn't necessary. I'm intrigued - wouldn't a freshly-renovated building require less maintenance and be less likely to have problems?
* They never refute the claims that construction costs are lower now than they will be in the future, which lowers the project costs.
* They complain about the lack of community involvement in the process, which has been ongoing for three years and has included articles, blog posts, superintendent coffees in the morning, informational meetings with discussions at night, and two full election cycles that saw two outspoken supporters of the project win seats of the Board of Education. I think everyone has the right to air their views, but please don't insult my intelligence by suggesting that lack of interest on doing so somehow taints the process. Should Maria Rice have offered wine and cheese to entice you, or would that just raise your tax-dollar-wasting hackles a bit more?

Lagusta Yearwood said that those in opposition can simply be ignored, and I wish I could agree. However, the people who complain about lack of community involvement are feeding inaccurate and incomplete information to people who are equally inattentive, and who might just cast an uninformed vote. I won't try to change somebody's mind but I sure as hell will make sure I correct any mistakes they are basing that decision on. The worst thing we can do for New Paltz education is allow ignorance to cast a vote.

Amy Mosbacher's Letter to the Editor 01/14/10: The Best Possible Outcome

2010-01-16T16:07:00.001-08:00

Kudos to schools superintendent Maria Rice and our school board for putting together such a talented team of volunteers to respond to public demand for a solid relocation plan for the one year of middle school that would be displaced by the renovation. Not only did they get us a plan in time for the vote, but they got a great plan that makes use of an existing local public-school building, complete with athletic fields, kitchen and parking, and they got it to us quickly, eight weeks before the vote. My hat's off to all of them.

The relocation planning involved coordinating with the State Education Department, because of the potential regulatory obstacle created by the former Tillson Elementary School being just outside the border of our district. That the state moved so quickly to wipe out that obstacle indicates a strong interest in Albany in helping this project along, which allays fears that the state aid we've been offered to offset the cost of construction does not have firm support for its continuance in Albany.

Look at what's going on neighboring districts in Ulster County resulting from financial miscalculations by school boards and administrators. We don't have those problems in our district.

If you read the recent articles in which local superintendents were interviewed about their fears of looming operating-aid cuts, all but one of them were expressing near-panic. The one that was calm, and said she was confident her district was well-positioned and creative enough to weather any storm into which Albany may throw the operating budget, was Maria Rice of the New Paltz school district, one of the top-rated school systems in the country. This is the same superintendent who immediately assembled the district's 24 best volunteers from the community, middle-school administrators, teachers, support staff and students, and got the answer to the relocation turned around with the best possible outcome in three weeks.

Who would pretend that we have reason to quake with fear that this school board and administration don't know what they're doing in calculating aid, or that they push us towards unnecessary expenses, or that they haven't done sufficient due diligence over either the educational or financial components of the renovation plan after working on it for two full years?

And why?

The exact opposite is true. We've got some outstanding people serving us right now, and they have consistently performed - as we expect and deserve - far above the rate that's usual and customary in the public school business, locally and nationally. I, for one, really appreciate that, and so do most people I know. I have every reason to trust the information they've provided to us, and every reason to support the plans they've brought to us for our approval. I'm voting yes on the middle school on February 9.

Amy Mosbacher
New Paltz

Rebecca Rotzler's Letter to the Editor 01/14/10: Smoking Gunfire

2010-01-16T16:06:00.002-08:00

Last week a letter stated that there is no "smoking gun" on health and safety at the middle school. But while his letter was hitting the presses, the gun went off. The roof developed a leak that caused a partial ceiling collapse in the auditorium. Luckily school was out when it happened, and there was no rehearsal, gym, or community group activity going on inside. This time.

While the final cost for emergency repairs is not yet in, facilities director Steve Callahan notified the board on Wednesday that the cost would exceed $50,000 out of the operating budget. That's around what it costs to pay one teacher for a year. That means next year we'll either see that bill on our taxes or see a class shut down.

Mr. Callahan also advised that six sections of the roof appear to be in danger of suffering the same fate, all due to age. We could just let this happen, one expensive emergency at a time out of our non-aidable operating budget, the same budget that pays for salaries and programming, and pray that our luck in having them happen when students and staff are out of the room will hold up. Or we can come to grips with the reality that these structures are very old, worn out, and increasingly dangerous, and put the needed improvements into a capital budget that will have three-fifths of its costs reimbursed by the state, and solve these problems once and for all with a comprehensive combination of full renovation and new construction.

The school board isn't trying to get us to approve taxing ourselves to put velvet upholstery on the chairs or serve filet mignon in the lunch room. This is necessary work. It's been postponed for years, and will remain necessary and increasingly costly whether or not we approve the bond. The difference is, if we approve the bond, we'll get it done for less money, completely and for much longer duration, and at much lower risk of accidents. Please join me in supporting the renovation of the middle school.

Rebecca Rotzler
New Paltz

Don Roper's Letter to the Editor 01/14/10: Fish or Cut Bait

2010-01-16T16:06:00.000-08:00

All too often history deals out bad hands that can defy correction. Witness New Paltz's narrow main street that will guarantee traffic jams forever.

Then there is that monument to dysfunctionalism: the middle school, which might be suitable for a game of hide-and-seek, but leaves something to be desired as a place of education. The New Paltz school board has, after much time, effort and thorough consultation (those who claim otherwise must have had their heads elsewhere in a place described by drill instructors but not printable in family newspapers) have produced a plan that can work.

So forget the hemming, hawing, and jawing, and get on with it. As chief justice Earl Warren used to say, "It's time to fish or cut bait."

Don Roper
New Paltz

Brian Obach's Letter to the Editor 01/14/10: Invest Now in Education

2010-01-16T16:05:00.000-08:00

I am proud of our school-board members for having the courage to stand by the sound, responsible plan that they put forth for renovating the middle school, and I encourage voters to support them by passing the referendum in February. These dedicated community members, whom we elected to oversee our educational system, have done extensive, careful research, analysis and planning. They have listened to community input in regard to the location and design of the building and made adjustments accordingly.

I have followed the debate closely, attended a public hearing and spoke directly with school board members. They have articulately and fully responded to every issue raised by their vocal critics who continue to repeat the same discredited assertions.

The naysayers claim that it is fiscally irresponsible to be undertaking this project during an economic recession. School board members and economic experts have soundly refuted that assertion. Interest rates and building costs make this an opportune time for long-term investment. Sound financial planning requires a reasoned long-term perspective, not a panicked response to short-term economic conditions.

There is no doubt that the recession has harmed many people. But state and federal leaders need to address these issues through macro-economic policy and programs targeted to those in need. We are not going to save anyone from economic hardship by denying our children adequate educational facilities. On the contrary, investment in education is one of the most effective ways to build economic capacity and raise living standards.

The most absurd allegation put forth by the critics of this proposal is that we cannot afford to invest in environmentally sound building design. It is ridiculous to believe that we would save money by retaining wasteful, inefficient, unhealthy and environmentally damaging design features from the last century.

Our school-board members have done their homework and put forth a reasonable and responsible plan. I hope the voters will continue to support them by voting yes during the referendum in February.

Brian Obach
New Paltz

Guy Kempe's Letter to the Editor 01/14/10: The Project is Scaled Right

2010-01-16T16:04:00.000-08:00

In consideration of the proposed middle-school project, let's start with a look at the current situation. There are not enough outlets in our middle school for the computers necessary to educate kids, let alone the wiring necessary for high-speed internet. Current classroom configurations are 30% below current state minimum requirements. As Susan Zimet said when running for a seat in the state senate, "Education will open doors and pave the way for good-paying jobs and quality of life. Our children must be provided with the skills and tools necessary to compete in a global economy." "It is our responsibility and obligation to provide a learning environment that is safe, conducive to learning and available to all."

1) In 2005, a state survey of the middle school said it was "questionable that the building can continue to serve the community for an extended period of time without major renovations." Because education is central to our core values as a community, doing nothing is not an option. The "band-aid" approach (repairs only) could end up costing us more than renovating on site - the cost is estimated to be $10 million every ten years or so - without improving building function and efficiency, resolving any of the educational, justice (ADA compliance), environmental and safety issues. Over time, it would cost us more and accomplish much less.

2) Renovating the school on the current village site is projected to cost $49.8 million. This choice may sound costly - extravagant, even - but I have come to understand it is the fiscally responsible choice. More expensive renovation concepts were proposed and considered by the school board, but the board chose compromise and took a middle road renovation-build, new-combination scenario. I am convinced that this project has been scaled to meet the needs of the community. Factoring in state aid, the local share is just under $30 million.

3) Building an entirely new facility elsewhere is estimated to cost $65 million, and that is without the additional cost of acquiring the needed land. Selling the current middle-school property would need to net a minimum $15 million to come close to achieving a comparable cost offset for the new building, which is an unrealistic expectation.

I think it is a good idea to re-integrate the district office back into the middle-school site, in the center of our community rather than on the periphery of the district. The current temporary offices cost nearly $100,000 a year in rent, a cost that goes away if offices are relocated back to the middle school site.

Here is the real bottom line: in New Paltz we take pride in caring for and educating children, K-12 and beyond. Let's not make it easy for elected public officials to turn their backs on public education now that their children have grown and gone off to private college. I understand that property taxes will increase somewhat, and proportionally increase taxes on the million-dollar homes of wealthy county legislators. But being a higher-tax community with excellent schools is not as bad as some other things that might be said of us.

Guy Kempe
New Paltz

Alan Stout's Letter to the Editor 01/14/10: The Problem Won't Go Away

2010-01-16T11:54:00.000-08:00

Everyone in the New Paltz school district knows that something needs to be done about the middle-school problem, but some people don't seem to understand that we're going to have to pay for it. One way or another, our taxes will have to be increased for the sake of our children.

The school board has spent almost five years studying the problem. Many board members have given countless hours of their time to work out the best solution for the students and for the community. No one who is opposing the middle school has really studied the situation in the same depth. Opposers are simply against a tax increase, any tax increase.

But the middle-school problem is not going to go away. It will just get more expensive. One thing I have in common with the middle-school opponents is that I don't like to see big tax increases either. That's why I think we should all vote yes and get this project going as soon as possible. Let's not waste ten million dollars on emergency repairs.

We should recall Benjamin Franklin's famous words that "... in this world nothing is certain but death and taxes." Any New Paltz taxpayer who expects to live for a few more years is going to have to help pay for the middle school.

A corollary to Franklin's observation is that "delay costs more money." Check with almost any economist or read the business news. Experts agree that both interest rates and construction costs are comparatively low at this time. Costs are certain to rise as the economy recovers. Right now is the right time to renovate the New Paltz Middle School.

Alan Stout
New Paltz

Lagusta Yearwood's Letter to the Editor -01/14/10: I'M NO MONSTER

2010-01-15T20:41:00.000-08:00

I've been closely following the debate about the middle-school renovations. There have been numerous long-winded letters back and forth about the project. But some key common sense seems to have been lost in the shuffle.

The facts:

The middle school must be renovated. After a lengthy process of public input, the school board decided to renovate rather than to build from scratch. This was a wise decision.

We all know how renovations go: the longer you wait, the more you pay. Thus, time is of the essence. The building is not safe for children or anyone else. The problems are real.

Many have attempted to mislead the community about the true costs of the renovation. Even in New Paltz, there are members of the tired old right wing who are constantly incredulous that living in a community means paying into a common fund to be used for the common good. These people have been whipped up into a froth by Fox News and typo-ridden hate-mongering websites warning of the "socialist" dangers of paying taxes. We need do nothing more than ignore them. Their facts are incorrect, which should come as no surprise.

The true fact is this: If your home is valued at about $300,000, your taxes will increase about $54 per year for four years, and then will decrease each year until the debt is paid off.

I don't even like children all that much, but if I wasn't willing to pay $54 per year to ensure that they could go to school in a building that wasn't at risk of hurting them, I'd truly be a monster.

Lagusta Yearwood
New Paltz

Steve Casa's Letter to the Editor 01/14/10: An Opportune Investment

2010-01-15T16:07:00.000-08:00

Being a lifelong educator and someone who has dedicated a majority of his free time to young people and their development, I felt the need to contribute to the discussion regarding the middle-school renovation in New Paltz. We all know that the middle school is in dire need of renovation. This is a fact. My fervent support for this renovation has to do with my experiences with students and educators that I've had the pleasure to work with, along with a simple formula that I learned about in college finance.

I have 20 years of experience in schools as a teacher and coach, and for the last five years I have worked for a non-profit that helps reform high schools around the country. I have been in hundreds of different school buildings, many in a similar state as the middle school. The reality is that facilities do make a difference, not only in a child's attitude toward learning but also in staff morale, attendance for both students and educators -- along with giving all stakeholders the best possible venue for teaching and learning. I have seen both sides of the spectrum, and there is a positive difference when facilities are state-of-the-art.

If we want the best for our children and community we must make sacrifices, sometimes at inopportune times. However I don't believe this is an inopportune time. My belief is that we must vote yes and here's why.

Our $49-million investment is worth just that in today's dollars; with an average inflation rate of 2.82% over the last five years, that $49 million will only purchase $44,970,401 if we were to wait three years to start the project, $42,469,833 if we start in five years, and $36,809,933 if we waited ten years. We also must add the cost of band-aid upgrades and fixes while we postpone our investment and wait for a better market.

Waiting would be prohibitive and a less prudent investment. Good investors, the most successful investors, buy into down markets, and that is why we must all make the sacrifice now for our children and educators. We've all lamented about missing opportunities for good investments, let's not miss this one.

I am a single parent, with two children in the district, who owns a home in the town of New Paltz and who like everyone else feels the pinch of the current economy. Tax increases affect me as they affect us all; nonetheless, I see the value in this investment for our children and their future. In fact, my daughter, who is in fifth grade, will be directly affected by the adjustments that will be necessary while the project is completed. However, this issue is much larger than just my daughter. This is about all children in our community for years to come. Please join me in voting yes for this savvy, long-term investment in our children.

Stephen T. Casa
New Paltz

Crumbling Roof? School Board Approves Emergency Fix at Middle School: New Paltz Times 01/14/10

2010-01-14T19:37:00.000-08:00

by Mike Townshend

With New Paltz Middle School's roof partially crumbling under the weight of rain damage and snow, the school board approved a $50,000 emergency repair last week. Water had been leaking from the ceiling in certain parts of the building, and eventually "part of the auditorium ceiling had collapsed," according to Stephen Callahan, facilities manager for the schools.

The collapsed snow guards on the old roof were the source of the problem. The middle school's roof has recessed gutters. The snow guards at the school are a strip or strips of copper - nowadays, stainless steel is the metal of choice - that hold snow back so it doesn't rush into and overtax the drains. "They're bent flat against the roof and they serve no function now," the facilities manager explained.

A number of drains along that section of the roof had also failed, leading to the collapse.

The $50,000 price tag pushed the repair onto the January 6 agenda, school board president David Dukler said.

According to Callahan, this part of the roof is just one of six parts in dire need of repair. The other five sections of roof could fail in the near future.

At first the school board wasn't convinced that it should address the problem immediately. "There is some possibility that this roof is going to be demolished," school board vice president Don Kerr said. "I don't want to spend all this money if it is just going to be demolished,"

Trustee Steven Greenfield called the roof one of the contributing elements leading up to the renovation of the middle school. "Where do we go with that roof if the public chooses not to replace the building?" he asked. Voters will decide February 9 on a bond for the proposed $50-million comprehensive renovation project.

Moisture and mold would become a big concern if the roof isn't fixed right now. The architects in charge of the renovation project, Rhinebeck Architecture & Planning, gave the school board a strong suggestion that the roof be fixed immediately.

New materials used to fix the building will likely be disassembled and reused if the renovation bond is supported by voters, Callahan said.

School board members voted to pass the measure, which allows the district to spend up to $50,000 to fix the roof. Potentially, the repair costs could be lower than that fully authorized amount.

Schedule for Upcoming Middle School Project Presentations Released

2010-01-13T20:12:00.000-08:00

The New Paltz Central School District has announced the dates for a series of presentations regarding the upcoming Middle School Capital Project Vote that will be held in a variety of locations. Dates, times and locations.

January 27 7:00 PM Lenape Elementary School
February 3 7:00 PM Board of Education Meeting at the High School
February 4 6:30 PM Tours of the Middle School
February 4 7:00 PM New Paltz Middle School Gym

From the announcement: "These presentations come after years of discussion and planning about how to address the aged Middle School facility, which was built in 1930. After reviewing and revising numerous options, the Board has agreed on a plan that uses a combination of renovation and new construction to address the failing infrastructure and educational space deficiencies, as well as meets specific District spatial goals.

While the Board is acutely aware of the current economic conditions facing our nation, plans to address the Middle School issues have been under discussion for many years. Waiting for a better time to present the culmination of their work would likely result in substantially higher costs. According to the District’s professional consultants from Rhinebeck Architecture & Planning, the conditions offered by the present economy are expected to provide the District with the opportunity to secure project bids for less cost than what has been available in recent years. Securing bids soon will also help safeguard the District from cost escalations that will occur when the market shows greater improvement in the next few years, as is predicted. Aside from the effort to save as much money as possible for the community in the long run, the health/safety and educational needs of the students are such that the Board of Education and Superintendent Maria Rice feel that it would be irresponsible for them to delay this decision any further."

Presentation on the Project at Duzine this Wednesday, 7pm

2010-01-12T06:29:00.000-08:00

Reminder: there will be a Presentation on the Project at Duzine this Wednesday, 7pm

NPCSD Posts Details About Cost and High Performance Components

2010-01-08T05:26:00.000-08:00

New information has been posted to the District's Middle School Project blogsite:

Click here to download a copy of the Detailed Project Scope Summary.

Click here to download a copy of the High Performance Opportunities Cost Matrix.

Terence Ward's Letter to the Editor 12/30/09: Biting the Bullet for the Sake of Our Kids

2009-12-30T16:11:00.000-08:00

Richard Cohen believes that the Planning Board, and not the School Board, should be deciding what's best for the New Paltz Middle School property. He seems to suffer from a common, and understandable, misconception: that Planning Boards actually have anything to do with planning.

I've served on both the town and village Planning Boards and I can say with confidence that nothing could be further from the truth. What a Planning Board does is decide if the developer's project will go through or not. They don't decide on the zoning, they don't get to choose among several alternatives and they don't tell developers, "What the community wants is..." The very name "Planning Board" is a misnomer; laws governing Planning Boards make them reactive bodies, not at all involved in any real planning.

Mr. Cohen is also under the impression that the Board of Education made the decision to keep the middle school at its present location in a vacuum, completely understandable for anyone just waking up to an issue that has been actively discussed for years, not the few months some naysayers seem to believe. I was at the meetings and debates about whether it was better to keep it where it is or move it, and it was the community that gave the Board of Education its marching orders. Or, I should say, it was those of us who decided to show up. I imagine that the debate would be differently framed if those in opposition had helped the board make its initial decision, rather than pitching a fit now, after they did a tremendous amount of work to figure out what's best for the students and taxpayers.

For the record, as a taxpayer I'm not looking forward to what this project has in store for me. We can probably find ways to make it less expensive, but two things are clear: we have dragged our feet on this issue for too long and cannot delay, and it will cost us much less money to renovate it on the same site. That's what came out of the forums over two years ago, along with a desire to see our kids educated in a school they can walk to, and a desire to avoid the problems of what to do with the athletic field if the school isn't there anymore. (For those just joining the debate now, the New Paltz Lumber Company deeded the athletic field to the district under the condition that it be used for that purpose only, and the land will return to whoever its successors in interest are should that change. This means additional busing to cart kids into town to use the field.)

The real problem here is that property taxes are regressive and medieval. Once we stop trying to tie wealth to land and tax people intelligently, maybe we can have a rational debate about how to educate our children without having to punish those on fixed incomes for the sin of being successful at some point in their lives. I'm not holding my breath about that happening in my lifetime, but I am getting ready to bite the bullet for the sake of our kids -- even though I don't have any in school right now.

Terence Ward
New Paltz

Mathew Swerdloff's Letter to the Editor 12/30/09: Make Your Decision Based on Fact

2009-12-30T16:08:00.000-08:00

Earlier this month I attended a New Paltz Board of Education meeting and heard many residents speak eloquently for and against the proposed middle school renovation project. I also heard some using scare tactics and personal intimidation to get their point across. Personally, I will listen to any opinion if it is presented in a respectful and polite way. I'm not so accommodating to the person hurling personal insults or using inflammatory and misleading rhetoric. In this instance I have the advantage of not serving on the Board of Education, so I can just walk away from someone using that communication method. At the last board meeting I witnessed our unpaid, volunteer board members listened and responded to many individuals speaking in such a hostile and intimidating manner. Much to my amazement I heard several outright lies and a lot more simple errors in the facts. All of us should keep in mind that School Board members are elected by us, they are trained by the New York State School Boards Association and other bodies and they work in partnership with licensed and experienced school administrators.

I ask those who are interested in this issue to consider the facts, not the threats, rhetoric or doomsday scenarios presented by the vocal opposition. The New Paltz Middle School is an outdated and inadequate structure that requires significant repair or renovations to continue to function at the current level. However, the current level is sub standard. For example, the building is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The central kitchen for the entire district, housed in the middle school, is grossly under equipped for serving a district of this size. Mechanical systems (heating, plumbing, ventilation) are in poor order and highly inefficient. The real question is not "do we renovate?" The real question is "do we renovate now, proactively, in an efficient and well-planned manner, or do we pump more money into quick fixes which will eventually be replaced anyway?" The real question is not "can we afford this now?" The real question is "can we afford to not do this now?" The real question is not "can the Board of Education handle this project?" The real question is "what can we as a community do to support our elected representatives in serving the needs of our students today, tomorrow and long into the future?"

Thomas Jefferson once said that "whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government." The New Paltz Board of Education and superintendent have lived up to this ideal by providing this community with a plethora of information for over a year on the middle school and the proposed renovation. We have literally had community forums, a blog, print newsletters, website pages, guided building tours, morning coffees, PTA presentations and open board meetings. I have never seen such an abundance of information on a topic and such a measured outreach asking for community input. I encourage those of you that are interest in this issue to come to board meetings, get the facts from the source (the district, board trustees, the superintendent), not rumors, partisan newspaper ads, or innuendo. Ultimately, we all get to decide on this issue on Feb. 9 at a special election to approve funding for the project. The Board of Education and administration has put this initiative forward because they feel it is essential to the success of our district and our students. You decide, but please decide based on the facts, not your fears.

Mathew Swerdloff
Gardiner

Rachel Lagodka's Letter to the Editor 12/30/09: A Wise Investment

2009-12-30T16:06:00.000-08:00

I am writing this letter to counteract claims that the proposed New Paltz Middle School renovation is extravagant. The School Board is actually playing it safe and being realistic, not extravagant. New York just happens to be the most expensive state to build a school. We have more expensive labor and materials and have higher standards to meet for our students. It is unfair of the opponents of the school to compare the price of building a school in a different state to the price of a school in New Paltz. The middle school is going to cost the same price as it costs to build at SUNY right down the block; that would be a fair comparison.

The School Board understands that they are making an investment in the future for the whole community and that is why they are playing it safe. They chose firms with 100% track records for coming in on time and within budget. There are two firms so far, architects and construction managers, and both have perfect records. They got an estimate for a building that is not extravagant, but is high performance. We will be buying a building that is ADA compliant with healthy air quality and green energy that will pay us back in half the lifespan of the loan. This is not extravagance. This is a wise investment.

We live in an expensive state where taxes are high already and there has been an economic downturn. That is why now is the time to build, to provide jobs for people and to get a lower price as there is more competition. If the bids come in lower for the building, the taxpayers will get that money back. The School Board has offered to pro-rate and spread out the payments so people will not be hit so hard by the expense. It comes out to less than $13.55 per month for the majority of residents -- people who own homes assessed at $300,000. There should be assistance available to people who need it, but that is not the majority of this school district by a long shot. New Paltz has one of the lowest foreclosure rates in the country. There are even people in New Paltz who can afford to spend $800 on a full-page ad in the paper encouraging people to vote "no" on the bond we need to fund the school. This is not the way to contribute to building a future for the children of the community, my friends.

Please take a look at this project again and see the value of it.

With this new middle school, New Paltz has the chance to be a leader that lowers statewide demand for oil and raises attendance rates at the same time. Studies have shown that the well-circulated air and calibrated lighting of a high-performance building lowered flu outbreaks and caused there to be fewer problems for students who suffer from asthma. Going green is also good statewide because it creates the right kind of infrastructure and manufacturing jobs and more jobs are created by renewables than by the fossil fuel and landfill industries.

A green high-performance building is nothing less than a step in the direction of a more just and economical future because it is a step away from global warming, the global trade imbalance and endless wars over oil. A conventional repair or a conventional building is a retreat to the dark ages. We can't let fear paralyze us and stop us from moving forward; we need to make an investment in the future now. This is our chance to let our children know that we can change with the times when we learn a better way and we know that solar and geothermal is a better way. The science is in and our children are learning along with us about global warming. What will be our legacy to the young people of New Paltz? A school we can be proud of or a pathetic history of divisiveness and inertia?

This is an opportunity for an investment in the future that represents two years of sound research by dedicated community servants into a project to make a better life for the youth of the community, for the state and for the world.

Please don't blow it New Paltz. Vote "yes" for the bond.

Download the PDF file at http://www.cap-e.com/ewebeditpro/items/O59F9819.pdf to learn more about the benefits of a green school.

Rachel Lagodka
New Paltz

Steve Greenfield's Letter to the Editor 12/30/09: Why We Should Renovate Now

2009-12-30T16:01:00.000-08:00

This statement is from me as an individual and does not speak for an elected body or any other individuals who belong to it.

This week I have come under attack as sloppy, superficial and under the influence of subjective political ideology in the execution of my due diligence. These attacks are mounted by people who have had no exposure to the degree and depth of my due diligence processes, no awareness of the length and amount of time invested or the experience and expertise of successful, non-ideological professionals in the topics under investigation in my public service or private advocacy. While opinions on matters of ideology range widely and compete in the marketplace of democracy, facts are facts, and math is math. Two plus two equaling five can be somebody's ideology, but someone who finds that it equals four cannot be accused of personal ideology or exposure to only biased influences. To wit: Building new gets much less state aid than renovating and requires buying property. Therefore, renovation is cheaper.

Selling the New Paltz Middle School and its property to finance building new does not change the outcome. The property has no commercial value because it is zoned residential. Selling it to the town and village for a combined municipal center does nothing either, and likely makes it even more costly, since that purchase would be made with tax dollars from the same taxpayers and would not be useful as a municipal center without substantial renovations, again charged to the same taxpayers. If we did not sell to the town and village for the maximum possible price, we'd be undercutting the interests of school taxpayers, many of whom do not reside in New Paltz.

Not renovating at all is more expensive than renovating and will jeopardize our educational standards. The middle school is in terrible condition. It has been absorbing high maintenance costs for two decades now. Renovations come from the capital budget and 60% of those costs are reimbursed to us by Albany. Maintenance costs come out of the operating budget and are not aidable one cent, and since they are in the operating budget, are subject to the state cuts that have been announced. As that's the same budget from which teachers are paid and class sizes maintained, declining to renovate and leaving all the known repair costs in the operating budget results in zero state aid and substantial risk that necessary repairs on matters that affect health and safety will force substantial teacher layoffs and increased class size, serious tax increases or all of the above. The uncertainty of state aid to operating budgets means the best way to save money is to put as much maintenance as possible into a capital budget. When you add in today's historic low interest rates and low contractor bids, we can save much more.

Crossroads, if constructed, will add a substantial amount of students to the district, far in excess of tax revenues generated. That means much higher taxes, and by the average New Paltz demographics for occupancies of the configuration proposed for Crossroads, probably not less than 3% just from that project, likely more. And that's only if the extra population doesn't put us over the tipping point of maximum occupancy for our buildings, which would force new construction throughout the district that would easily surpass $100 million. I don't make this up -- it comes from figures in the developers' impact statements, which I read carefully. Stoneleigh Woods listed its annual negative impact on school taxes as $500,000 per year, every year. That's nearly 2% on your taxes, just from the one project. Should these projects be built, the tax implications are devastating and it isn't because the School Board wildly wastes your money. That's fact. I own a house and pay taxes here, too. So do almost all my friends. That's why I spend so much time researching the tax implications of everything that reaches my desk.

There will always be people who disagree with me, but one thing I know with certainty is it's not because I don't do sufficient due diligence or because my math comes out wrong. Two plus two always equals four. I have put at least 1000 hours over two years doing due diligence on these matters, all of it on a strictly volunteer basis. I have listened to people who disagree with me very carefully throughout that process, calculator in hand. All of the above information is factual and I stand behind it 100%. It is why I think we should renovate now.

Steve Greenfield
New Paltz

Middle School Fact Sheet

2009-12-30T10:20:00.001-08:00

Fact Sheet about the Middle School Project

$49.8M School Project Awaits New Paltz Vote: Kingston Freeman 12/27/09

2009-12-28T08:43:00.000-08:00

By KYLE WIND

NEW PALTZ — New Paltz school district voters on Feb. 9 will decide the fate of a proposed $49.8 million project to renovate New Paltz Middle School.

The proposal calls for renovating and reformatting the building to meet the needs of a 21st century education, district officials say.

The Board of Education voted 6-1 earlier this month to hold a public referendum on the plan. The vote came after four hours of deliberation, said school board Vice President Donald Kerr, who chairs the district’s facilities committee.

Kerr said board members were concerned about proposing the project when “the economy is in the toilet,” but he believed it was the most fiscally prudent decision to not continue to “kick the can down the road.”

A BUILDING condition survey in 2005 revealed “critical physical deterioration” of the middle school, according to a district presentation on the plan. What district officials called “Band-Aid solutions” costing $254,223 and $160,000 were applied that year and in 2007, respectively.

Kerr said the survey showed the middle school, which is at the corner of South Manheim Boulevard and Main Street, needs $10 million in emergency repairs and that even after they are completed, it probably will need another $10 million in renovations in several years. The presentation of the plan, available on the school district’s Web site, www.newpaltz.k12.ny.us, also says that amount in repairs probably would be needed “every 10 years or so for the next 20-plus years.”

Therefore, Kerr said, because $20 million of the $49.8 million project would be funded with state aid, it will prove wiser in the long run for district residents to finance a “fully renovated, green school” rather than pay just as much in the long term to maintain a shoddy one.

AN OUTLINE of the plan said the 1960s section of the building would be replaced with a new, three-story addition “to provide improved space for student instruction.” The new design would increase instruction space to meet state standards and support a “house” system, which divides schools into smaller communities.

The project would include 58,000 square feet for students and administration; five team multi-use areas; a small gym and a gym storage area; and three classrooms that would be leased to Ulster BOCES, the outline reads.

The plan also calls for relocating the school district’s offices to the site by renovating the 1930s section of the middle school building. Officials noted the district currently pays $87,750 to rent administrative office.

Other benefits of the plan, district officials wrote in the outline, would include updating “existing antiquated infrastructure conditions” to improve the building’s electrical capacity, energy efficiency, plumbing, structural integrity and handicapped accessibility; as well as improving safety by designing a drop-off area to redirect traffic from pedestrians and reconfiguring access to the building to a single entry point.

TO MINIMIZE the project’s impact during tough economic times, Kerr said the district’s business administrator crafted a plan to delay the tax impact until September 2012 by using district reserves in the near term. Then, for the first four years of the 20-year payback period for project’s borrowed money, the district’s property tax levy would increase 1.1 to 1.2 percent. After that, he said, there would be no tax impact because other debt obligations will have ended.

If approved, the building plan would be further developed and submitted to the state Education Department in December 2010; bids would be sought and contracts would be awarded in early 2011; the groundbreaking would occur in June or July of 2011; and the project would be completed by September 2012.

KERR SAID the building will be out of commission during construction, but he noted that school district Superintendent Maria Rice and Ulster BOCES Superintendent Martin Ruglis have developed a plan to ensure students’ education is not compromised.

Sixth-graders would be moved to the district’s Lenape Elementary School and maintain their middle school schedules there, Kerr said; and seventh- and eight-graders would be taught in the Kingston school district’s vacant Tillson Elementary School building, about 6 miles away from New Paltz Middle School.

Kingston school district officials had considered converting the Tillson building into an alternative high school but decided against the plan after investigating the cost of the needed structural work. Superintendent Gerard Gretzinger told the Kingston Board of Education early this year that the work would cost about $1.2 million.

Kerr said the plan for the New Paltz Middle School renovation includes $500,000 for relocation costs but that district officials expect to use $250,000 of that to renovate the building for their own uses in lieu of paying rent to the Kingston school district.

Where would the kids go? New Paltz Times 12/23/09

2009-12-23T14:58:00.001-08:00

by Mike Townshend

One key concern among parents has been where students would end up if the 14 months of construction does actually occur in 2011-2012.

Superintendent Maria Rice released her plan for the potential move. It would involve moving the sixth-graders to Lenape Elementary School -- but they would keep their 7:55 a.m. middle school start time.

Regular Lenape students would come in 1 1/2 hours later at 9:25 a.m. Staggering the kids' schedules like that would allow sixth-graders to use the gym, music rooms, the cafeteria and other special classrooms without conflicting with younger pupils.

Seventh- and eighth-graders would attend classes at Tillson Elementary School in the nearby Town of Rosendale.

"We would be the only students in that facility," Rice explained. Tillson's building is part of the Kingston City School District, but is currently unoccupied.

New Paltz would use $250,000 of the renovation project's $500,000 student relocation budget to refurbish the space and move furniture into the building. But that's less than half the cost of a two-classroom modular building, and it gives students the benefit of a full-blown school building, Rice said.

New Paltz United Teachers and other school union contracts would not be in breach if the district uses this relocation plan.

To the Polls - New Paltz Middle School will be on Feb. Ballot: New Paltz Times 12/23/09

2009-12-23T14:57:00.000-08:00

by Mike Townshend

After deliberations that stretched on for nearly four hours, the New Paltz Board of Education voted 6-1 to hold a special Feb. 9 election and allow voters to decide the fate of a proposed $49.78 million renovation to the New Paltz Middle School.

That project has already caused a rift in the community -- with landowners, professors, former and current village officials, a county legislator and laypeople all sounding off for and against the project.

The group Concerned Citizens of New Paltz has so far taken out two full-page ads in this paper to persuade voters not to support the middle school ballot initiative. The Feedback page in our Dec. 17 issue features two letters -- one letter against the project with 46 signatures, and one for the project with 42 signatures.

Dec. 16's vote was years in the making. Former school board member Barbara Carroll admitted that the middle school had been a financial drain on the district even during her tenure.

"I think that you're right to be biting the bullet and looking at it now," Carroll said. The past president of the board also told the board members that she felt that, recession or not, elements of the public would always oppose a large building project. "You're kind of damned if you do, and damned if you don't."

Board member Daniel Torres said that his vote to place the middle school on the ballot was a matter of doing the right thing.

"The burden's been placed on us right now to do something right," he said. Torres, a freshman at Marist College, has memories of being in the middle school building at the beginning of this decade. He moved to New Paltz and took remedial classes in the middle school, but he graduated New Paltz Central High School with honors, as class vice president and a devoted community activist.

Torres said he attributed part of his turnaround to going through the New Paltz schools.

Board member Steve Greenfield also voted to place the initiative on the ballot. "Bizarre layout in the middle school leaves first-time students confused -- and the building, which is a hodgepodge chimera of an original 1930s building with later-added wings, is out of touch with what students need now," said Greenfield.

"What a wonderful opportunity we now have to offer these outstanding educators facilities that actually serve, rather than obstruct, the team learning philosophy that has long existed and succeeded at our middle school," Greenfield added. "Now, after two years of intensive study and design exploration ... we as a community are poised to solve our problems and meet the needs of our children as we raise them to adulthood in the complex and challenging 21st century."

KT Tobin Flusser also voted with the majority to place the initiative on the ballot. She stressed the years of work on the project. About 50 official school board meetings featured discussions on the middle school -- not including subcommittee meetings.

"All of them were public meetings," Tobin Flusser said. "All of this equates to thousands of hours."

While she admitted that $49.78 million is a lot of money, the trustee also said she felt opponents of the project were wrongly attacking the board as elitist, rich and out of touch with local taxpayers.

"Don't think that the people on this board are rich fat cats who want to do something silly. We're typical New Paltzians," she added.

President David Dukler agreed that the $49.78 million price has caused a lot of sticker shock locally. But he also said that the district has been neglecting the middle school for at least 20 years.

"I accepted that it was our time to act," he said. Putting off the project would likely mean inflated construction costs and interest rates -- neither of which would be any more popular with voters.

Financial worries are real and are heading in at the district, according to Patrick Rausch.

With Gov. David Paterson working feverishly to control the budget in Albany, future funding to the schools is totally unknowable. Add that to a school board that wants to keep the tax levy growing by a steady four percent each year, and "whether we do the middle school or not really doesn't matter," Rausch said.

Despite his worry, Rausch voted to put the measure on the ballot. To not do so would be "depriving the community of a vote."

Trustee Edgar Rodriguez was the lone person on the board to vote against the initiative.

"As a trustee, I have the fiduciary and ethical responsibility to weigh the needs of the children and the community. I have done this and, at the moment, the preponderance of the evidence presented by the school district does not convince me to vote yes for the proposed bond," Rodriguez said.

Part of how the school district has presented the middle school project to the community also didn't make sense to Rodriguez.

"There are too many wants in the current plan and the needs are not clear at all," he said. "I would dare say that there is not a clear and present danger in the middle school that warrants $77 million."

Assuming a 4.5 percent interest rate, the total principal and interest payments for the renovated school comes out to that $77 million.

According to Assistant Superintendent Richard Linden, that 4.5 percent interest rate is a conservative estimate and the district might actually end up paying less than that for interest if voters approve the project.

Of the total $49.78 million project, the State of New York is expected to cover just more than $20 million with building aid money. That would leave local taxpayers with a $29.75 million local share.

However, state building aid will also apply to the interest payments for the new building, and could bring in an additional $10 million, according to Linden.

The district would not borrow the $49.78 million this year. Instead, they would lock in construction rates and actually borrow the money during the 2012-2013 school year. In this way, taxpayers would not immediately feel the pinch from borrowing in 2010.

Polls for the special election will be open at New Paltz Central High School from noon until 9 p.m. on Feb. 9.

For more information on the school district's plans, head to www.newpaltz.k12.ny.us and check the "Announcements" section.

Jason West's Letter to the Editor 12/23/09: Vote Yes on the Middle School Proposition

2009-12-23T14:55:00.000-08:00

On Dec. 16, the New Paltz School Board voted to put a bond measure up for public referendum asking if we should renovate the middle school. Almost no one is saying we don't need to renovate the middle school -- those who oppose the renovation simply state that times are too hard right now to justify it. A small number of opponents make the ridiculous claim that we shouldn't do this because it 'divides the community'. Come on -- I've been here 15 years and New Paltz has pretty much always been divided over one thing or another. It's what makes us great -- passionate civic engagement. Don't underrate it.

The simple truth is that we need to renovate the middle school. In fact, it should have been renovated years ago. Instead of biting the bullet and making the necessary repairs, prior School Boards voted to simply patch up the building we have. As was mentioned at last night's School Board meeting, one such 'band-aid' cost us $14 million. Yes, times are tough, but the longer we wait, the more expensive this necessary work becomes. Capital projects don't get cheaper if you put them off year after year -- they get more expensive. And in this case the recession works in our favor because of the low interest rates, low cost of labor and lower cost of materials.

Yes, $49.8 million dollars is a lot of money if you're buying a house. But it's not a lot of money if you're re-building a middle school. In fact, it's eerily average for what other local school districts have spent recently on similar projects.

We need this renovation. It's cheaper to do it now than in a few years. We need to do this not only for those children going to the middle school in the next few years, but for those who will be going to the middle school over the course of the next century. The question is: do you want to spend money now to get these desperately needed renovations done, or do you want to spend a lot more money a little bit later in order to do the exact same work?

It would be irresponsible of us to do anything but vote YES on this proposition.

Jason West
New Paltz

Stacey Schaffer's Letter to the Editor 12/23/09: Support the Middle School Renovation

2009-12-23T14:53:00.000-08:00

For a second consecutive week another $800 anonymous ad attacking the proposed New Paltz Middle School renovation is in the paper. That brings us up to 50% of what a home of $300,000 would pay for the renovation -- ten years' worth of payments -- in just two weeks, supposedly in support of ordinary folks' inability to afford an amount of money that's the equivalent of one-sixth of a typical monthly cable bill, which virtually everyone in this community pays -- good times or bad. Our inability to sell our houses is attested to by people who tried to sell their homes for a million-and-a-half dollars. These are not my spokespeople.

Is anyone besides me finding a painful -- dare I say manipulative -- paradox in the lavishing of so much money to be protected from having to spend less money than the cost of advertising to not spend the money? Many of our children are walking around with cell phones that cost more for monthly service in two months than I'm being asked to pay in taxes for this renovation in a full year. I can afford this renovation. I want to afford this renovation and I will find room for it in my modest budget. Our children's ability to thrive in adulthood, our community's ability to bring forth future generations of high-functioning citizens to keep our home safe, sound and productive and even our ability to maintain our property values through the attraction quality public education holds for young families all depend upon it. Please join me in supporting the middle school renovation.

Stacey Schaffer
Esopus

Charlie West's Letter to the Editor 12/23/09: Let's Get This Project on the Road

2009-12-23T14:50:00.000-08:00

Times are tough, I have to agree, and there is no guarantee of what tomorrow will be. But do we really want to wait to pass the New Paltz Middle School project? There will always be a reason why "now" is not the right time. So let's get this project on the road. Other towns and cities in the country are in the same situation and no one knows what the future will bring. But we must not hinder the education of our children, our future. It has been proven that proceeding with another "band aid" won't work. A temporary fix is just that, temporary. We need a school that will help to prepare our children for the 22nd century. And as for waiting better technology, if we did that, none of us would own a computer or a new car. So let's try to be optimistic about our future and give our children a competitive chance. After all, we had no problem voting for the money for the library.

Charlie West
New Paltz

Don Kerr's Letter to the Editor 12/23/09: A Yes Vote for Middle School Renovation

2009-12-23T14:48:00.000-08:00

This letter is a personal statement. It has not been reviewed by, and does not constitute a statement from, the Board of Education.

I am writing this letter a few hours prior to the school board's vote to place the proposed renovation to the New Paltz Middle School on the ballot in February.

I have heard from dozens, if not hundreds, of people on this project and the two most FAQs are: a) Why do we need to take on a large project at the New Paltz Middle School? And b) Can't we wait until the economy bounces back?

We need to act because there are $10 million in emergency repairs needed to keep the school running for another six to eight years. So the cost of "nothing" is $10M vs. $29M for the proposal (after state aid). AND after spending $10 million now, we would come back to the community with the same problems in five to eight years (only they would cost a lot more to address at that time).

I, and other members of the Board of Ed, have been studying this situation for years; acting now is the most fiscally responsible course of action to preserve our educational program.

The proposal is structured in a way that maximizes the benefits of acting in a downturn, while minimizing the effect on taxpayers. The financing is set up so that bids get locked in now at economic downturn rates, but tax impact is not felt until the 2012-13 school year, when the economy has bounced back.

Staff at the New Paltz Middle School has reported several times that education is delivered despite the facility. The widely practiced "House" concept to middle school education is frustrated by the configuration at the building; and band practice takes place in the middle of academic classrooms. An engineer reported in 2005 that there were sections of the oldest portions where they had found cloth insulation on the wires (pre-rubber) -- the school simply cannot support the technology that today's and tomorrow's students will NEED to be competitive. And, as a steward of all students, I hang my head in shame that kids with physical challenges cannot access all programs at that school.

For those reasons and many more, I will be voting yes to bring the proposal to voters in February.

Donald Kerr
BOE Facilities Committee Chair

Dan Torres' Comments Before His YES! Vote on 12/16/09

2009-12-22T14:26:00.000-08:00

At our Middle School there is a program called Step Up. This is where students are rewarded for doing the right thing, and sometimes doing the right thing isn’t always the easiest thing. I think that perfectly describes our current project. In my opinion we as a board have “Stepped Up.” We have acted responsibly financially, environmentally, and in how we are utilizing 21st century technology.

Fifty million dollars is obviously a lot of money and simply a burden. Sadly, that burden has fallen on us. I wish that some other board had taken the initiative in repairing our Middle School facility but they didn’t. Now it is our job to take the initiative to do something for our community and students. The cost of doing nothing is far greater than the cost of the project both literally and figuratively.

I think that sometimes due to my age people may have the misconception that I don’t feel the current economic times that we are in. This simply isn’t true, I am balancing 16 credits and three jobs and with a month of school off I am currently looking for a fourth... so if anyone would like to hire me please talk to me later. I just graduated high school and I had to watch my friends who did all the right things and work so hard for so many years have to go to their second or third school choice or even community college because they couldn’t afford the price tag.

In closing, today I was asked during public comment if I felt that the district or the Middle School had failed me… I think it is well known by anyone who attended my graduation that I was class Vice President, a member of National Honor Society, and that I graduated with an Advanced Placement Diploma. What isn’t as well known is that while I was in Middle School and through the beginning of my high school career I was in entirely remedial classes. There were few people who didn’t graduate with my class but most of them came out of those classes that I was once in.

I am not saying that it was necessarily because of the Middle School facility that I attended nearly all remedial classes, but the closest I ever came to failing a class was because of that facility. When I was in 7th grade I had a knee injury and due to the layout of the building I was unable to attend one of my classes. I made it to two weeks out of a ten week marking period and I came very close to failing. So do I think that the Middle School failed me? No, but I think more could have and probably should have been done for me. With all that said I will be voting yes tonight and on February 9th.

Daniel Torres
New Paltz

kt Tobin Flusser's Comments Before Her YES! Vote on 12/16/09

2009-12-21T17:34:00.000-08:00

When I ran for school board last May I said the following:
“I submitted my name for election to the school board because I want to focus on maintaining educational excellence despite fiscal pressures. I want to participate in the middle school renovation process, as I believe this project is an opportunity for the district to concretize its commitment to 21st century education while going green and staying fiscally sound. I want to continue to be a voice for transparency in government - we need to continue to open up the process and promote citizen involvement.”

As we sit here about to vote on the proposed Middle School Project bond date and amount I am confident that I have done what I promised to do and here's why.

Since Jan 2008 when the resolution was passed to focus on the Middle School green renovation on the current site in the village this board has met nearly 50 times for regular BOE meetings (and before I was even on the board they can all attest that I attended many of them). This project was more often than not in some way on the agenda. Also in that time period there have been two dozen Facilities Committee meetings, and since late summer our board has met as a whole numerous times as the Committee of the Whole just to discuss this topic to narrow and refine the scope. All of this equates to thousands of hours reviewing, discussing, researching, and asking hundreds of questions to get to where we are today. These were all public meetings that were filmed and televised.

I am incredibly impressed by all my colleagues’ intelligence and work ethic. We are all elected, but we are all volunteers and my experience is that this project – in addition to regular board duties – has been taken absolutely seriously and with a high degree of commitment & professionalism.

This project has gone through many phases over the past two years. It started with the selection of architects via the RFP process followed by a feasibility study which confirmed the site was viable for a revovation/combination/new construction project. There have been many configurations and iterations in the Rhinebeck proposals (and later Palumbo cost estimates). How much of the old building components would stay? What needed to go? There were extensive discussions about where to put what - shipping and receiving, the kitchen, parking, buses, the district office; what could we afford? and most importantly, what would be the best configuration for contemporary education? By this fall the results of this work was ready for presentation and evaluation through a public forum and presentation series.

Over twenty open forums and presentations were held at all of our schools and at locations across our community. Staff, faculty, PTAs, community groups, and residents of the district provided us with feedback about the proposed project. Really good questions were asked and there were great ideas offered that helped us modify this proposal in important ways, for example:
• affirmation that the community wants us to maintain full day Kindergarten
• that we needed a relocation plan and dollars in the budget for it before voting
• adjustment of the bond timeline to delay impact till 2012
• the possibility of flexible payment of taxes across the year
• removal of the amphitheater and auditorium renovations

There are some things we heard about and can't do: for example, the pool – with a $6 million price tag. Or, as express by a small handful, a postponement – but that is a price tag for students and our community and our pocketbooks that makes no sense.

$49.8m is a lot of money - there is no getting around it. I had sticker shock when I first heard this ballpark figure and since then I – along with my peers at the board table - have worked diligently to figure out why this is the amount we need to spend on this project.

We have "interrogated" our architects and construction manager for months – drilling down all the scenarios - the hows and the whys – and came to understand that this is the appropriate price tag for a capital project for a public building built properly to last a century.

We have done our due diligence to determine what constitutes the right cost for this project – and that this is the best proposal for the needs of this district and community. Our professionals - architects and builders - are basing these costs on their databases of projects done in our region. And outside of the board and district administration and consultants, well-respected community members who work in related fields like Floyd Kniffen, Kevin O'Connor, Rick Alfandre, and John McEnrue at the college have affirmed that these costs are right on target.

And while these may be the worst of times for the economy, in many ways they are also the best of times - construction costs and interest rates are at historic lows. It is very likely that the costs will never be lower than what they are now.

The condition of the building is appalling and it is reprehensible that we have neglected to act sooner. The 2005 building survey identified critical physical deterioration. The building is a fossil fuel nightmare and large portions are inaccessible to the disabled and injured. Classrooms are not configured for modern education and are on average 30% smaller than current state requirements. There’s too much heat, not enough heat, mold, air quality problems – it is a maze. It would be irresponsible to not acknowledge and act on these problems now.

I am typical New Paltz. I am a working mom in a dual earner household with three kids – my middle child will be relocated during the project. My house is assessed at just a hair above the median - and the cost for my household will be right in line with the typical New Paltzians – as I guess it will for most of us at the board table (and Dan’s parents :) ).

We are all neighbors, and we need to share this cost. At less than $5 a month for the first four years and starting in 2012 an average of $14 a month for the twenty-year loan– which by the way is the same cost of HBO on a monthly basis - we can afford this. We can do this – and if there are people who are on the precipice of losing their homes because of impacts like these we need to find better ways to identify them and help them keep their homes.

Since I graduated from SUNY New Paltz I have lived all over Ulster County, we moved back when my first child was born. New Paltz is one of the most expensive places to live in the county but I love the community and the schools are #1 in the region - as Don Kerr affectionately says - the jewel of the valley. People move here because of the schools. The price may be higher than average but the outcome is exceptionally higher than average. We have a nationally ranked high school.

Middle school is a difficult age. Schools do well at high school and elementary levels – middle school is perhaps the most challenging years and much research says these years have the most impact on eventual success – this is a critical age. Our superior staff of administrators and teachers at the middle school is successful despite the building they work in.

Think of the positive impacts for the education of our children in a contemporary, clean, green, healthy building. At a minimum, because of the new design they will get a net increase in actual instruction time. Absenteeism because of healthier conditions will decrease, and productivity for both staff and students will increase. The facility will be technologically appropriate for modern education.

I support this project for educational, health, safety, environmental, and financial reasons.

It is time for the community to vote, and I am confident in our community’s ability to evaluate this proposal. This is what it costs. This is what we need to do for our community. I will vote yes tonight and on February 9th.

kt Tobin Flusser
New Paltz

Download, Print, and Put This Poster in Your Car Window

2009-12-20T08:09:00.001-08:00

Download, Print, and Put This Poster in Your Car Window

Vote YES! in the Poll --------------------------------->

2009-12-20T08:08:00.000-08:00

Vote YES! in the poll in the top right corner of the website: "Will you vote YES on the proposed Middle School Project?" YES!

David Dukler's Comments Before His YES! Vote on 12/16/09

2009-12-20T07:36:00.000-08:00

I want to first thank my colleagues, the SOS and her staff, and the public for all the work that we have done collectively over the past years and especially the past few months that has brought us to this day.

I am in support of bringing this vote to the public so they can exercise their democratic right to vote and make decisions regarding their lives and the life of their community.

In my years on the board, I cannot recall a time when making a decision has both been so necessary and so disquieting. When we started on this path, little did I expect that we would be in the economic situation we are in currently. But here we are.

Over the course of the development of this project, I have mirrored many of the sentiments expressed here tonight by community members and those I have encountered elsewhere. I was originally in favor of a project on South Putt Corners in proximity to the high school. Our work at the time resulted in an outpouring of public sentiment for retaining the in-town site. OK, I said, not my first choice but the community has spoken. Move on. We then were presented with options by our architectural firm. After I picked my jaw off the floor when I heard the price tag, I took a deep breath and educated myself about what was behind those numbers. I went beyond my initial shock to understand our needs, our options, and the price of inaction.

In my role as a member of the board, it was my job to look hard at all points of view, to understand whenever I had questions, to put aside by own personal prejudices, and, as Patrick says, to get the view from 10,000 feet. What I saw first was an educational need that had existed for many years and that had not been dealt with in a meaningful way. I felt that it was our time to step into the arena and have the integrity to act. Next I saw a community caught between its support for education and its concern for those who are stressed and strained by both the present economic crisis and an outmoded and highly problematic state system of education funding.

As best as we can tell, putting this off for another day will eventually wind up being more expensive and probably no more popular than it is now. From a financial perspective, there will be no better time to undertake this project. It will NEVER be less expensive. I believe this is the time to act. The Board will also be undertaking additional actions to address the financial concerns of citizens and to continue to lower the costs to taxpayers. We have already lowered the scope of the project. If achieved, such actions will result in a lower final cost. The amount we are authorizing today does not mean we have to use it all. At another time, I will speak to what additional actions we can take on behalf of the taxpayers of this district.

However this vote turns out, to build or not, we will only be able to confront the challenges ahead if we do it together in a respectful and collegial PROBLEM SOLVING manner. Or we can degenerate into finger pointing, enemy-making and blame seeking. I believe that choice is ours.

David Dukler
Gardiner

Steve Greenfield's Comments Before His YES! Vote on 12/16/09

2009-12-20T07:34:00.000-08:00

Back in 2005 the New Paltz Central School District was advised that the physical structure of the Middle School was failing in many areas due to age, wasting energy in copious quantities, and likely to suffer critical failure in less than a decade, even if the ten million dollars in immediate repairs were undertaken. It stated in no uncertain terms that the district would both save money and better solve its problems by either substantially renovating or building a new Middle School. That is the origin of the discussion that’s been going on in earnest at this table and throughout our community for the last two years. This report came on top of educational shortcomings of which we, our administrators, and our teachers were already painfully well aware – that the aged infrastructure was interfering with our teachers’ ability to readily deliver the quality of education today and into the future that we have expected in the past and that every generation of New Paltz students deserves. Now, after two years of intensive study and design exploration, with the able assistance of our dedicated staff and top contracted engineering, architectural, and construction talent in the educational field, we as a community are poised to solve our problems and meet the needs of our children as we raise them to adulthood in the complex and challenging 21st century.

A few months ago a team of teachers from the Middle School gave us overwhelming testimony in support of the proposed concept. We were told of how teachers push materials from classroom to classroom on teacarts. We were told of how collaborative classes frequently meet in hallways due to lack of classrooms that can hold two classes. We were told of the noise disruptions in the vicinity of our music programs. We were told of the lack of handicap access to many programs, and the challenges achieving inclusion for special ed students. We were told that our classrooms don’t even have sufficient outlets to plug in as many computers and other technology that is needed for today’s education. We were told of the security risks and loss of classroom time due to the labyrinthine locker system and long walks between classes. We were told in no uncertain terms how the proposed concept solves all of these problems and more, while providing sufficient flexibility to allow our programming to change and grow. What a wonderful opportunity we now have to offer these outstanding educators facilities that actually serve, rather than obstruct, the team learning philosophy that has long existed and succeeded at our Middle School.

I’d also like to say what an honor it has been for me to serve this community in this capacity, and to have been allowed by their support to work with such capable board colleagues, administrators, teachers, staff, and top-flight contracted expertise to reach this moment where I can truly say to my neighbors that they will soon have the opportunity to provide a continuum of the best education our children can receive at a price our community can afford. Throughout our region over the last two weeks almost $200 million dollars in capital improvements have been approved by voters, several at much higher total and individual cost than ours, showing that even in these hard time, or perhaps because of them, citizens are willing and able to distinguish between the wants and needs of their school districts, to capitalize on current low interest rates and lock in competitive construction bids for the long-term benefit of their communities. I cannot think of a better time or a better place to build a 21st century educational facility on a site that preserves the living history of New Paltz public education and affirms and strengthens the ties between community and education that builds the knowledge and citizenship that prepares children to not only enter, but to successfully participate in the modern adult world.

I will cast my vote yes to bring this referendum before the public for their approval.

Steve Greenfield

42 Supporters' Letter to the Editor 12/17/09: School District Has Earned Our Trust

2009-12-17T14:17:00.000-08:00

It is understood that an informed public is the backbone of democracy. So when the public is misinformed, democracy is at risk, as poor decisions may result. But when the public is deliberately misinformed, democracy is being threatened. Last week's issue of the New Paltz Times contained an expensive full-page advertisement (complaining about money, no less, in an advertisement costing $800*, as much money as 60 months -- five years or 25% of the full 20-year total -- of the taxes an owner of a $300,000 home would pay for the middle school project) that was a stream of false information designed to create fear and compromise the public's good judgment on this important civic matter. So the truth must be told, so that it will be known and the public's ability to make its free choice is preserved.

1. The local taxpayers' portion of the loan, including interest over the 20 years, is not $80 million. It is $45 million. But even that number doesn't tell you what your personal share will be, since it doesn't tell you how many taxpayers it's going to be spread over. Factoring that in, the median annual tax burden for this project, which, like mortgage payments will remain unchanged over the 20 years regardless of inflation, will be $13.55 per month. That's the real number. And it won't start until 2012. This is a plan this community can afford.

2. There are not 13 years left on $24 million in debt. There are two years and $668 thousand left on one debt, nine years and $12 million left on another and 13 years remaining on $10.8 million. All figures are principal plus interest. That debt load is well below average for districts of our size. Our school district's credit rating is high due to the combination of low debt load and effective, conservative financial management, which enables our community to finance this project at the lowest possible rate.

The current middle school is certified by state-mandated inspections as considerably deteriorated and unsuited to contemporary education and more expensive to maintain than to renovate. The project is necessary. It contains no luxuries. It's projected cost is exactly average for school renovation in this region. It is affordable. Our community is being asked to ensure that we will have a middle school that meets the actual educational and physical well-being needs of our students at an affordable rate that protects the taxpayers from the huge ongoing costs of repairs and energy loss. It is being presented at a time when interest rates and contractor bids are coming in at historic lows. The board and administration of the New Paltz Central School District have earned our trust, respect and thanks for their sound financial and educational management and the two years of due diligence that has made this project ready for an honest, informed vote by district residents.

Brian Obach, Ilgu Ozler, Carol Richman, Celeste Cleary, Cordell Stahl, Jasmine Redfern, Ellen Marshall, Gene Fischer, Guy Kempe, Eric Schwartz, Stacey Schaffer, Jason West, Terry Dungan, Jenna Dern, John Bligh,Lagusta Yearwood, Lorin Rotzler, Rebecca Rotzler, Maria Davila, Marianne Sennett,Jonathan Sennett, Matthew Maley,
Mathew Swerdloff, Rachel Doldorf, Rachel Lagodka, Tessa Killian, Todd Quinlan, Wendy Baur, Josh Baur, William Weinstein, Eleanor Wolfe, Hector Rodriguez, Margaret Human, Michael Pardus, Karen Edelman, Nicole Lane, Peter Kaufman, Renee Brenner, Ariana Basco, Sadia Gilmour, Kim Sturgis, Mary Guirma
New Paltz, Gardiner and Esopus

*A similar full-page ad was run in the 12/17 edition bringing the total to $1600.

Eleanor Wolfe's Letter to the Editor: Vote Yes on the Middle School

2009-12-17T14:15:00.000-08:00

I am a New Paltz resident and mother of a third grader now attending Lenape Elementary School. We moved here 2 1/2 years ago from New York City where my child attended PS 11, housed in a 1920's vintage building. New York City is not known for having all wonderful schools, but PS 11 is a gem. I was pleased to discover that our new home in New Paltz also boasted a good school system -- this comes at a price. I rent a home in the village and, via my rent, pay for taxes assessed on this property. With a child in the school system I get immediate value from tax dollars. All residents should realize that money spent on education is money invested wisely in the future. Our children will thrive in life based on the quality of their early education. This is a proven fact.

The arguments put forth by the "vote no" campaign are loud voices using fear and smear tactics to distort the realities of this proposal based solely on their desire to avoid increases in taxes. Tax dollars -- local, state and federal -- are monies collected to redistribute across communities, they are inescapable, but when well administered, create more bang than for the individual buck. Here, in New Paltz, we have reasonable, educated, credible administrators working diligently to prepare this project which promises to move this district into the future safely, strongly and with integrity.

Building green is not a luxury, it is a necessity. Once upon a time indoor plumbing was considered a luxury. If we fail to plan for the future, we will find ourselves, in 30 years, tearing down this school, just as now, we are faced with trashing the buildings that were put up in the 60's and are now toxic and unsalvageable. It is a great testament to the earlier construction techniques of the 1930's that we can save that beautiful structure and keep it functioning as our district office.

This project has been developed over the same 2 1/2 years that I have been living in New Paltz. I have attended board meetings and witnessed the same questions asked, repeatedly, by a vocal minority. Our volunteer elected officials answer the queries and have followed proper procedures to develop this plan. They have delivered to us a plan that looks into the future and will take only one year to complete. This isn't a visionary plan, but it is a reasonable, affordable -- check the real numbers on the district website -- and exciting plan that we can live with, fiscally and morally.

There is no advantage to putting off this task. The district was informed in 2005 that the middle school was inadequate at best, unsafe at worst. Too much time has passed and as it stands now, the new building won't be completed until 2012! We have run out of time and have a workable plan that meets the current and future needs of our community. Vote yes on the middle school.

Eleanor Wolfe
New Paltz

Floyd Kniffen's Letter to the Editor 12/17/09: We Must Fix the Problems at the Middle School

2009-12-17T14:14:00.000-08:00

"If you're gonna do something, do it right!" I have always been a big believer of this principle.

We must fix the problems at the New Paltz Middle School. This is a fact that we cannot escape. This building has served us well, but now it's time to renovate to meet our current and future needs.

Not addressing all of the problems at the middle school during this renovation will only make it more costly to address them in the future. This is why the School Board is proposing such an extensive project. This money is more wisely spent now than put off into the future.

With that said, I can understand why some will criticize the School Board for proposing such an extensive project. But we must look at this cost over a period of time. The proposed middle school renovation will provide the best return on the money spent now. This is why I support the School Board's efforts to do the right thing (and not the popular thing) -- to fix our middle school in the most cost-efficient manner.

I have been attending middle school forums and School Board meetings. At these meetings, I have learned a lot about this project. I have also become acquainted with the project's consultants and spoken to them about the type of construction being proposed. I am certain that this project will be built to last, will be energy efficient and will also include energy-producing systems. This is the right type of building construction for our community. This is the right investment to make for our future.

Construction has been my life. After college, I spent many years managing projects of this magnitude. I have researched school construction costs in our area and concluded that the cost per square foot and cost per student of this project is in line with other local projects.

Please do not allow efforts from critics to scare you from investing in our schools. Vocal opponents and full-page ads are impressive tactics. This type of fear mongering is not only wrong, but potentially damaging to our community. If you have any doubts about this project, please attend the forums and meetings. If you would like me to share my thoughts and research, I would be more than happy to discuss them with you.

Floyd Kniffen
New Paltz

Maryann Fallek and Glenn McNitt's Letter to the Editor 12/17: The Time is Right for a Middle School Upgrade

2009-12-17T14:11:00.000-08:00

Some are understandably concerned about the costs associated with the proposed New Paltz Middle School upgrade given the fragile state and challenges of our current economy. However, it is precisely this current economy that brings important cost savings, including lower construction bids and lower interest rates for the necessary loans, which should encourage support for moving forward with the upgrade, NOW.

Moreover, initiating the middle school upgrade now would be promising for economic recovery, providing brighter prospects for workers and business owners in our community. The upgrade will mean more jobs and increased demand for goods and services.

The primary reasons that we support the project are focused on our responsibility to provide a safe, secure and efficient public school -- one that fully supports high-quality teaching, the learning of all students and the future of the planet.

How can we postpone or defer such a responsibility? For us, doing so is not only wrong, but also unwise and harmful to the economy and the environment.

Maryann Fallek
Glenn McNitt
New Paltz

Referendum Date Set: February 9th

2009-12-17T09:41:00.000-08:00

At last night's meeting the School Board voted to set the referendum date to Feb 9th. Please mark your calendars!

Important Board of Education Meeting 12/16 at the High School

2009-12-14T16:54:00.001-08:00

This Wednesday 12/16 at 7pm is the Board of Education meeting where the board will be voting on the referendum amount and date.

There will be a public comment period at the beginning of the meeting - please come and speak in support of the project! As many of you already know, opponents of the project took out an $800 full page ad in last week's New Paltz Times with inaccurate financial data imploring people to attend this meeting and speak out against the project. We need to get as many supporters as we can to this Wednesday's meeting -- please attend and pass the message on!

Jim O'Dowd's Letter to the Editor 12/10/09: The Time Is Right for Middle School Project

2009-12-14T15:57:00.000-08:00

I share the concerns of citizens about the approximate $50 million price tag for the New Paltz Middle School renovation project in these uncertain economic times. However, there are compelling reasons why I support this project.

The middle school building was outdated 16 years ago when my now 30-year-old son transferred here. Repairing it -- in the long run -- could possibly be more expensive than renovating. Repairs are estimated at $10 million and this is still only a temporary fix. We are going to revisit these problems again and again and when I say revisit, I mean pay again and again to repair what everyone acknowledges is an inferior product. It is the old story of throwing good money after bad. In a year or two or maybe five, this project or another like it, will have to be proposed and, for sure, the price tag will be higher and much of the money that we had spent for repairs will just be money down the drain. The $20 million available to the district in state aid is from taxes we and other New Yorkers have already paid. It is there for the exclusive use of capital projects, just like the middle school project, but not for repairs. Our political representatives in Albany have given strong assurances that this money will be forthcoming and, the fact is, if we don't use it, some other district will and we lose it. Today, interest rates and labor costs are low and contractors are hungry for business right now.

The plan also solves two additional problems by providing a badly needed new central kitchen in the high school and space for the district office in the preserved 1930s section of the middle school.

There are also long-term financial savings in taking advantage of green construction and utilizing renewable energy sources. When we talk about a school for the 21st century, we should include 21st-century renewable energy sources and technology. The New York State Energy, Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) offers financial incentives for green technology upgrades. They vary from year to year, but most recently included 40% reimbursements for renewable energy investments, as well as a 4% subsidy on loans to develop these projects. These incentives would substantially bring down the cost of installation and decrease the pay-back time. Then, of course, there is the fact that our children are learning about green technologies in their classrooms. They are also learning about things like greenhouse gases, global warming, melting of ice caps and dangerous new tipping points. They need to be reassured that in the face of these problems which their generation will be dealing with for decades to come, their school is trying to do what it can as a good global citizen to help ameliorate the problems.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the members of the school board for their conscientious and tireless efforts on behalf of the district and its children. I do not doubt the sincerity and best intentions of any board member. My impression is that each is acting out of his or her best judgment and conscience. Each struggles, like the rest of us, over the impact of this major decision. Board members have taken more lumps than deserved during this process, but I guess that is the way it works on the front line of a democracy. I thank each of them again for hanging in there.

Jim O'Dowd
New Paltz

Nancy Jacobs Cohen's Letter to the Editor 12/03/09: We Don't Share Opinions

2009-12-14T15:55:00.000-08:00

Department NameAfter reading the paper last week I came across the letter to the Times against the much-needed renovations in the New Paltz Middle School. There has been confusion, as Ms. Cohen and I share a name but in no way do we share opinions on the desperately needed renovations at the middle school. I fully support the project, and it is precisely in times of economic uncertainty that the only sure investment we can make is the education of our children.
Department Name

Nancy Jacobs (Cohen)
New Paltz

Mathew Swerdloff's Letter to the Editor 11/26/09: Let's Get Beyond the Anti-Middle School Rhetoric

2009-12-14T15:53:00.000-08:00

New Paltz has always struck me as place where honest open dialogue is valued and encouraged. I appreciate the evidence I have seen of this in the way Superintendent Rice and the New Paltz Board of Education have informed and involved the public about the proposed Middle School project for the past few months. They have made every effort to provide accurate and clear information to the community and provided many opportunities for input. This is what this community has asked of them and they have delivered. With that in mind I am surprised to see and hear so much inflamed rhetoric and misinformation out in the community about the proposed Middle School renovation project.

So let us look at some facts. You don’t need to be an architect or an energy expert to know that the current middle is school is literally bleeding heat in the winter and stifling hot in the summer. The building is a compilation of incongruous additions to an aging core structure that is in dire need of renovation. Everything from roofing, plumbing, electrical, HVAC and parking is a problem. Simply put, this building is not a suitable environment for the fine staff and talented students that work there every day. Most importantly, the learning spaces go against what we know about how middle school students learn best. The opportunities for flexible grouping of students, clusters of classrooms, and a technology rich environment are scarce. The building is not ADA compliant, the kitchen is inadequate to meet the needs of the district, and the building is incredibly difficult to navigate.

The district has done a fantastic job of providing the facts at http://npcsdms.edublogs.org/. I encourage each of you to read the site and come to the next forum (December 1 or December 9) and share your educated opinions with the Board of Education. I know they value our input.

There has been some confusing math out in the community about how much this project will cost. Rather than rely on rumor I suggest looking at the detailed data online. The project, while estimated at $51.46 million, will receive approximately $20 million in state aid. The net cost to the district is therefore closer to $30 million, and that is amortized over 20 years. A New Paltz home assessed at $297,000 would see an estimated increase of approximately $70 for the first four years of the bond. So, over the first four years of the bond repayment, the cumulative cost for the homeowner of this hypothetical home would be approximately $700. After that the retirement of other debts will offset the new bond resulting in no further increases for this project. Also note that the project includes a 25% contingency. If the project costs less, the tax levy will go down. It cannot cost more as the district will be committed to the amount approved by voters if the project should be accepted.

While this is an incredibly difficult time for all of us to be thinking about taking on more debt, given the double digit unemployment and the state of the economy, in some respects it is a good time. The district is looking at ways to delay the debt repayment. If that happens we will hopefully find ourselves in a better economic state when the increases do come. In addition, this is a great time to take advantage of very aggressive pricing from contractors that are bidding competitively for scarce work.

Detailed information on the financial impact on district residents is online at http://npcsdms.edublogs.org/files/2009/11/11-10-Board-Handout.pdf.

Ultimately the voters will decide on the project, whether it is by public opposition now or a public vote later. I’d much prefer the project to go to the voters so we can all make informed choices as to what we feel is best for our community. In encourage each of you to get informed and share your input with the Board.

Mathew Swerdloff
Gardiner NY

Stephanie Santagada Well's Letter to the Editor 11/26/09: New Paltz GreenWorks Supports the Board's Efforts

2009-12-14T15:50:00.000-08:00

GreenWorks is committed to reducing our carbon footprint as a community and supports the actions of the Board to this end in determining a solution that keeps the Middle School in the center of the community and incorporates energy efficiency and savings into the building. Twenty-first century students and families expect and will continue to expect green design. This project holds the potential to be a model for a more sustainable school community. While “green” may sound like it costs more, the savings realized from energy efficiency in our heating and lighting systems, enabling walkers and limiting the need for busses and ensuring that the building will not be susceptible to environmental issues that would necessitate another renovation in the future, are a sound investment. This investment has short and long term returns, some quantifiable and some qualifiable. A more qualitative example is the profound impact that a more conducive, comfortable learning environment will have on instruction. We ask that in your discussions, the Board make the understanding of these savings transparent and clear. We believe that a fiscal analysis that is accessible to the entire community will demonstrate that environmental sustainability goes beyond trendy – it is fiscally responsible and necessary to commit to now.

Stephanie Santagada Wells
on behalf of New Paltz GreenWorks

David Dukler's Letter to the Editor 11/26/09: Make Your Decision Based On Hard Data and Facts

2009-12-14T15:46:00.001-08:00

Department Name

The two-year long work of the Board of Education on the Middle School Project is coming to its culmination. As evidenced through the recent informational workshops, our community has many questions and concerns when presented with the ideas for the renovation of the 1930’s school at its present site. In the course of the presentations, and in the pages of this newspaper, it has become apparent that misinformation and rumor have been often presented as fact. In order for the public to make an informed decision about the project, I offer the following information:

1 – RUMOR: The current debt obligations of the district are $80 million dollars.

TRUTH: Our district currently has a total debt load of $24 million dollars. We have presently less debt load than other districts with similar enrollments and budgets and have an excellent credit rating.

2– RUMOR: The district will reduce Kindergarten to ½ day as a result of the project and then continue this forward when the building re-opens.

TRUTH: The Board has given the superintendent direction to maintain full-day Kindergarten during the renovation year. There has never been a discussion to change our Kindergarten program. Our commitment is to continue full-day Kindergarten.

3– RUMOR: We will expend reserve funds—savings accounts—for this project that we should be saving for other purposes.

TRUTH: We are going to be drawing upon the $2.8 million of Capital Reserve, Debt Service and Capital Funds which have been established expressly for this purpose. They can ONLY be used for capital projects and for no other purpose.

4—RUMOR: We should build at the high school site because it would be cheaper.

TRUTH: Two years ago, we looked into this alternative. We were told then, and have revisited this within the past weeks, that the cost of building at that site would be more expensive, $60-65 million for a similar building at that site. On top of that, there would be additional costs to acquire land as the land at the high school site is not large enough to accommodate an additional school (according to state regulations). Lastly, the reimbursement rates available to us from state aid for new construction are less than for renovation.

5 – RUMOR: The project will be more affordable if we put it off for a few years.

TRUTH: Putting the project off will in fact make it more expensive. In the present economy, interest rates are at historic lows. That means that the cost of borrowing the money has never been cheaper. As the economy improves, interest rates will go up to combat inflationary pressures. As anyone who has a home mortgage knows and as recent refinancing attests to, the higher cost of borrowing money is a significant part of long-term financial obligations. Additionally, through our state-mandated process of competitive bidding, we will save significantly as firms are eager to obtain work. Lastly, we have been advised that over time, project costs escalate at about 4% per year. For most of the community, it is unlikely that their earnings will keep pace with these cost increases. That means that the same project five years down the road will be both more expensive as a total number as well as taking a bigger bite of our incomes.

What is the project going to cost as presently configured? At its most expensive, for the average household in the district assessed at a value of $297,000, the cost would be an additional sixty three (63) cents per day starting in the fall of 2015. After that, it would either go down or stay the same.

There is additional information available on the district website at www.npcsdms.edublogs.org as well as the presentation that is being shown at the community information sessions. There will be additional community information sessions on December 1, 7:00 PM at the High School and December 9, 7:00 PM at the Middle School. All members of the Board are eager to speak with members of the public. We’re in the phone book! Please call.

For the members of the Board, it is most important that people have all the facts and information so they can make their decision based on data, not rumor. We may not all agree on the direction to take. These are difficult times. Let’s make our decision based on hard data and facts, not misinformation and fear.

David Dukler

Board President

Steve Greenfield's Letter to the Editor 11/26/09: The Voters Must Have Their Choice and Their Say

2009-12-14T15:19:00.000-08:00

I'm writing to communicate as an individual to express my personal thoughts to residents of the New Paltz Central School District. This letter does not represent a statement from the school board.

An article in last week's paper caught on to the sound-byte-friendly "loudest voice in the room" in response to a question about the board's decision to spend the last two years researching plans for renovating the Middle School. That was a figure of speech that was unfortunately almost designed to invite the interpretation that other voices were overlooked, or that a single mechanism drove the board's subsequent actions. In my opinion, and guiding my own actions, this is not the case.

The board of two years ago made great efforts to invite the public into a discussion about whether to replace the Middle School or renovate it. That invitation stemmed from an engineering report that had found significant deterioration throughout structures considered so aged as to more prudently warrant replacement rather than repair. I was a member of the public who responded to that invitation. While it was true that a petition with 800 signatures was then assembled in just ten days, I also witnessed several crowded public meetings at which most people, including several public officials and representatives of Town and Village committees, strongly supported renovation. A smaller number, that included Board President Rod Dressel and former teacher's union head Ron Simon (who later changed his mind and supported renovation), advocated building new. Nobody spoke about trying to simply repair failed systems. The same was true for a blog put up by the district for public comment, which can still be viewed at http://npcsd.edublogs.org/2007/12/18/welcome/#comments. Not only was there no advocacy for simply repairing, but some people coming forward today to oppose renovation posted pro-renovation comments at that time.

Due to my own support for the renovation concept, a few months later I ran for the board with that as my central campaign theme, and won with the first-place vote total. Since then, a considerable amount of work has been done to develop the team and the plans to conduct the renovation, all of it at public meetings. At no time did a member of the public appear at a meeting, send me or the board an email, or communicate privately that they'd like the planning to cease. A year later, the chairperson of the committee that had formed the previous year specifically to advocate for renovation also got elected to the board in a first-place finish. It is worth noting that her election came at the peak of the financial collapse, and that from the date of her election until just a few weeks ago there still had not been a single message requesting cessation of the Middle School planning, all of which was being conducted in public and reported upon in the press.

At no time were any choices based on "the loudest voice in the room." Choices were made based on the deterioration and educational deficiencies, financial advantages, and overwhelming public demonstrations of support for renovation, not just as manifested in a petition, but repeatedly, and in very large numbers, in many forms, over the whole two years, and the total absence of any indicators that any portion of the public opposed renovation. As a property taxpayer of moderate income myself, raising three children under financial uncertainty, I am personally sensitive to the "no new taxes" theme. As an elected official I am sensitive to public input, and to public interest and need. Thanks to democracy, enforced in this case by New York State law, I am not empowered to decide whether or not to renovate the Middle School. That will be decided by the voters. That's the big difference between school matters and all other local and statewide government in New York. Town and Village Boards and the County Legislature may receive public input and then vote to do what they as legislators think is the best choice. Should I vote to put a renovation referendum before the public (and I expect I will), all I am doing is letting you make the choice yourselves. If I bowed to recent pressure to drop the referendum, I would be denying the right to vote to the full public of the district. Even in this regard, it is worth noting that at the forums held to date, there have been more people speaking in support than in opposition, and more people asking neutral questions than speaking in opposition. But even if those proportions change over time, what they would prove is the essential wisdom of the public vote.

That's the bottom line. I received a substantial mandate, substantially reinforced many times since, to plan renovations for the Middle School, and that is what I have done, to the best of my ability. I am trying to whittle costs down further every day, but at some point in the next few weeks I'm certain I will vote to put this matter before the voters, and I truly believe that the voters should come out in support of democracy and choose the path they prefer. No matter how the public decides, I will follow their will and work to keep the Middle School performing at the highest possible capacity. Let there be no confusion about my belief that that capacity, as well as the physical lifespan of this substantial piece of public property, will be much higher if we renovate. But the voters must have their choice, and their say.

Steve Greenfield
New Paltz

Time to Renovate: New Paltz Times 10/15/09

2009-12-14T15:05:00.000-08:00

Time to renovate: Teachers rally around renovation for New Paltz Middle School by Mike Townshend

Does New Paltz Middle School actually need to be renovated? If you're asking the teachers who work there, the answer is an unequivocal "yes."

Internally, the 1930s-era building confuses so many people that seeing groups of parents helping each other navigate the corridors during a visit isn't too uncommon.

"We had our open house, people started to bond -- but that's not exactly the type of bonding we're looking for," said Mary Beth Ferrante, a middle school math teacher.

Instead of exploring the labyrinth of the hallways endlessly, students could get down to business and explore learning if the building were renovated, Ferrante continued.

All three proposals for fixing up the building call for clusters of students at the same grade level to be in a "house." Potentially, this would allow teachers to go interdisciplinary with many more of their lessons, tying science into reading, or geometry into social studies.

"This design pulls everyone together," she added. "The entire building has an enhanced flow."

Some rooms in the middle school have no more electrical sockets left to use, nor is the building at all wired adequately for Internet access. A kid's locker might be far away from his class. It can take ages for one child to come back with one forgotten item.

A renovated building would deal with that -- lockers would be right near the grade-level houses "so if they forget something -- boom they're out, they're back and they're back on task."

Ferrante, along with a slew of her colleagues, sits on a special panel of teachers giving direct input to the architects in charge of the project, Rhinebeck Architecture & Planning.

Special education is also a challenge in the current setup. Classrooms for special education can be far, far away from the regular classrooms -- this can lead to a sense of isolation for kids in special ed, teacher Barbara Weiner said.

As it stands, New Paltz Middle School is poorly equipped to handle the needs of people in wheelchairs. Some classrooms are just physically off limits to them. "It's heartbreaking," Weiner said.

Music classrooms will be nowhere near a regular classroom in the new plans. That would keep sounds down to a level of teachable quality in other rooms.

For his part, middle school band director Charlie Seymour said he'd like to see special courses get their due in the revamped building. The plan calls for two classrooms for music, but not a third for choir.

Seymour also wanted to see plans address the needs of foreign language classes. Right now, some language teachers have no dedicated classroom and cart their materials from class to class.

School board member Steve Greenfield thanked the teachers for speaking out. He said the public needed to hear from the teachers and needed to know that they felt the building was far, far inadequate.

"You know what we don't know," board Vice President Don Kerr said to the teachers. He stressed how important their feedback -- or any feedback on the project -- is to them. "Make us do this right. Stay on top of us...I say this to the public too -- we need your help on this. We want to do the right thing."

Superintendent Maria Rice praised the middle school staff for passionate, high quality teaching -- despite the building itself sometimes getting in the way of learning. For instance, two classrooms might have to join for interdisciplinary lessons in the hallway. The teachers stressed that it could be done, but it's not the dream situation.