47.0°,
Mostly Cloudy Overwhelmingly approval of Lawrence's capital fund propositions
Use of $5M and creation of reserve fund approved
Lawrence School District residents approved two resolutions on Wednesday that will ensure that the planned renovations for the high school and middle school which are tied to the implementation of a restructuring plan that will go into in September.
Proposition No. 1 passed by a vote of 240 to 65. It permits the use of $5 million of the $8.5 million from the sale of the Number Six School to the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach (HALB) for renovations at of the high school and middle school
Proposition No. 2 was approved 228 to 61. It will allow the Board of Education to establish a capital reserve fund for that building project. HALB plans on moving its Long Beach-based elementary school, kindergarten through eighth grade, the Woodmere site.
Superintendent Gary Schall noted that voter turnout was small, but said the substantial approval rate points to a public mandate. “I look at the percent, an overwhelming number voted yes, and I count those who didn’t vote as a silent gesture of approval for the direction we are taking.”
Underway since December, the building work was initially funded by $250,000 from the district’s budget. The Transportation office was moved from the second floor of the middle school to space on the first floor with its own entrance and exit. It’s previous space will be refurbished to be used as the administration office for the lower school — third, fourth and fifth grades — that will now be in the middle school and be the Lawrence Elementary School at Broadway Campus. The upper school — sixth, seventh and eighth grades — will now be called Lawrence Middle School at Broadway Campus.
Also part of the realignment is the closing of the Number Five School that would be leased to generate revenue for the district. Leasing is expected to realize $350,000 annually and create more than $55,000 in yearly savings, Lawrence officials said.
Depending on grade level, students from that school would be shifted to the Lawrence Primary School (formerly the Number Two School), which will have first- and second-graders or the lower school. The Number Four School will only have pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students be named the Lawrence Early Childhood Center at Number Four School.
At the high school the guidance area will be become central office space and the main office and several classrooms will be expanded.
Board President Murray Forman said the approvals will allow the district to move forward, set down definitive project benchmarks and plan a series of udates as work is completed. "I am pleased with the overwhelming and unequivocal result from the entire community for the improvement of our school facilities for all the children in the district," he said.
