Lynbrook Board of Education proposes $28.9M bond

New theater cut after defeat of $46M bond

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The Lynbrook Board of Education issued a proposal for a bond of nearly $29 million at its Jan. 11 meeting. Residents voted down last March’s $46 million bond, which led to the board issuing a survey to determine why it failed.

“We thought the best way to ascertain the majority of the community input as best we could was to be able to put out a survey,” said Melissa Burak, the Lynbrook schools superintendent. “This way, everyone who came to vote on the budget would have an opportunity to anonymously provide what they felt about the bond.”

The board went over the survey results in September and requested the principals at each school assess building needs so a new, more taxpayer-friendly proposal could be drafted.

Lynbrook High School, built in 1922, is the oldest functioning high school on Long Island, and needs many improvements. The original bond vote was turned down by a margin of 314 votes, with 2,412 total votes cast on March 15. In September, Burak said the survey revealed that 85 percent of the residents polled voted against the last bond for financial reasons.

The total cost of the new proposed projects is $33.9 million. The board would use capital reserve to cover $5 million of the projects’ expenses, while the remaining $28.9 million comes from the bond. Paul Lynch, the school district’s assistant superintendent for finance, operations and information systems, explained the fiscal impact of the bond.

“The average home, based on what the county of Nassau has told me, is worth $333,600,” Lynch said. “So a person with a home value of that much would see a $168 increase per year based on this year’s tax increase.”

The bond funding would modernize the high school, including upgraded science facilities; designated classrooms for chorus, band and orchestra; a new classroom for the Career Development program; a school store, to teach students business skills; renovations to the auditorium; and a classroom dedicated to innovation.

The bond would also fund upgrades to the locker rooms at the North and South middle schools, the refurbishing of the Atlantic Avenue school’s wrestling room and locker rooms, and the addition of air conditioning to the elementary and middle school gymnasiums.

Burak emphasized that it is important for the high school to keep up with others in the area when it comes to providing science, technology, engineering, arts and math education, collectively referred to as STEAM.

“STEAM is now the new buzzword,” she said. “So many kids are being involved in engineering and technology. That’s a relatively new concept that was different 20 years ago. We need to provide a facility that will allow students to explore with those disciplines in the proper environment.”

Burak also stressed that the popularity of the school’s music program created a need for chorus, band and orchestra to have their own rooms. “We are very proud that our musical program is growing,” she said. “It’s growing, though, in a facility that is not growing with it.”

Though the new bond would be easier on Lynbrook taxpayers, residents and students alike expressed disappointment that it did not include a new auditorium. In the bond voted down last March, a 646-seat performance center was planned to replace the current outdated auditorium. The gymnasium currently doubles as a performance center.

“There is one glaring omission to this plan, in my mind,” said resident Veronica Sympson Kreudel. “That is the inadequacy of the current performance space for the concerts. There’s not even anything to talk about adding to our gym facilities or the stage in the gym. No lighting. No acoustics. No better sound system. I really feel very unhappy about that.”

One student who spoke at the meeting said she was a stage manager for the high school productions. She said that lack of seating for “Shrek the Musical” forced the cast to add a fourth show, and that actors normally change in math classrooms because there isn’t adequate space for dressing rooms. She also said it is difficult to get sets through the auditorium doors.

She added that the school doesn’t fulfill her passion for theater. “I had to pay $10,000 to go to a pre-college program because Lynbrook didn’t have the facilities for me,” the student said. “And that sucks.”

After the meeting, Burak said that the board would continue to listen to feedback and entertain suggestions, but it gets challenging when some requests increase the overall financial scope of the project.

“The feedback was greatly appreciated,” she said. “A great deal of the discussion centered around the theater not being fully addressed in this revision, however that was the greatest financial component of the original bond.  That was an area we needed to scale back on in order to reduce the financial burden.”

Now that the proposal has been revealed, Burak said, the board would continue to invite public feedback. Once there is a consensus on moving forward, the board will adopt the proposal and set a date for a community vote within 45 days.

The revised bond proposal can be found at Lynbrookschools.org under the bond follow-up tab on the left side of the screen.