Lynbrook Board of Education releases results of bond survey

Lynbrook BOE has revealed the results of voter survey after proposed $45 million bond was voted down

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In an effort to further gauge why district residents voted down the proposal of a $45 million bond to upgrade Lynbrook High School in March, the Board of Education conducted an anonymous exit survey among voters and announced the results on Sept. 14.

The bond vote was turned down by a margin of 1,363 to 1,049 on March 15. Twenty-two percent of the cost of the bond would have been covered by the state, while 78 percent would have fallen on residents, resulting in the average homeowner paying an additional $357 annually over the 20-year life of the bond.

After only 16 to 17 percent of registered voters partook in the bond vote — the majority of whom turned it down — the BOE sent out the survey in May to try and understand what they can do better for the next potential proposal.

The survey, which was answered by 1,100 people (roughly 10 percent of those eligible), was conducted to gather feedback on the voting patterns of residents and determine where they believe the money should be prioritized.

“This is a summary of the results, but it gives us food for thought of how we’re going to move forward a little bit and develop a plan,” Lynbrook Superintendent of Schools Dr. Melissa Burak explained. “The building principals have been asked to go back to their buildings to really determine what needs are — not just a wish list, but what are some needs that we can accomplish.”

Lynbrook High School was built in 1922 and serves as the oldest functioning high school on Long Island. The goal of school administrators was to use the bond as a way to add a 646-seat performance center, a state-of-the-art lab to support the STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) classes and a student support center.

The survey says . . .

Of those surveyed, 71.9 percent had children who attended Lynbrook schools, 12.8 percent were residents whose children were no longer school age, 9.7 percent were senior citizens, 4.1 percent were residents with children under 5-years-old, and 1.6 percent had children attending private schools. Nearly 55 percent of those surveyed voted yes to the original bond vote, while 44 percent voted no in March. Less than one percent of those who took the survey didn’t cast a vote either way for the bond.

One Lynbrook resident, who chose to remain anonymous, said she approved of the original bond and noted on the survey that she would still give a yes vote, citing the importance of the STEAM classrooms. The resident, who had two children go through the school system and currently has grandchildren who attend, also pointed out what she said were some “flaws” with the original vote — such as a lack of awareness and the expenses that came with it.

“I think if people took a tour of the building, they’d see an upgrade is totally needed to benefit future students,” she said, adding that the proposed theater may have been too lavish of an idea. “I think it needs to be presented with a less expensive package — and there needs to be more presentations about the plan.”

Of those surveyed, 81 percent indicated the STEAM classrooms would be a reason to give a “yes” vote, while almost half were on board with the total scope of projects. Thirty-one percent said they would have approved the bond for the instructional music classrooms.

As for a “no” vote, 85 percent of those surveyed said they didn’t support the bond because of financial reasons, while 45.7 percent said there was no need for the performance center. A quarter of the respondents thought that instructional music classrooms were unnecessary.

Work goes on

Though the bond didn’t pass, work was done to improve schools within the district over the summer. Two new bathrooms were added to the high school, as well as brighter lighting units on the ceiling. Lynbrook South Middle and Marion Street schools also received one new bathroom each. In other changes, a new parking lot was added to Lynbrook North Middle School, while Lynbrook South Middle School received a new gym floor.

After the bond vote failed, some projects that the money was expected to cover were placed into capital reserve. Dr. Paul Lynch, the assistant superintendent for finance, operations and information systems, said that included new windows, which are set to be installed in the Lynbrook Kindergarten Center on Atlantic Avenue in October. A new boiler has also been installed at the high school, Lynch said, adding he hopes to add boilers to the middle schools by next summer.

“When the bond was originally put forward, the board decided to put some of those things into capital reserve to get the projects done,” Lynch said. “So that’s already working. There are already projects in the works.”

As for the efforts to secure a new bond, Burak is hoping the feedback from the survey will help lead to another more taxpayer-friendly bond proposal down the road.

“We will be using this information to review our plans and determine if we can put together a new project scope for the Board of Education to consider,” Burak said. “When we can put together a project scope that can be a reduced burden to the taxpayer, we will bring that before the Board of Education.”

Nick Ciccone contributed to this story.