Board gets up close look at building needs

The District 13 Board of Education will consider nearly a million-and-a-half dollars worth of capital projects, repairs and equipment purchases as budget planning for the 2010-11 school year begins.

Board members toured the district’s four buildings last Saturday morning to see what work has already been completed in the past year and see what needs to be done in the future. Each principal got a chance to explain why they hope to receive funding for a myriad of projects including painting, new doors and furniture replacements.

The biggest requests for next year are $367,000 to replace part of the roof over Willow Road School’s west wing and $450,000 to replace the blacktop at Wheeler Avenue School. Assistant Superintendent for Business Meredith Brosnan said $75,000 was set aside in this year’s budget toward the Wheeler repaving project, which would include the parking lot and play area. She said if they can’t set aside the full $450,000 still needed next year, then the project will have to be funded over three years, similar to what was done to replace the Howell Road parking lot two summers ago.

This spring, two windows will be installed in the Wheeler auditorium. The room had six large windows when it was first built in the 1920s, but were taken out and covered up later on. One window will be installed on each side in the top arched part of the space, called an eyebrow window. Brosnan said she hopes to have all six windows done sometime in the future.

Once the windows are installed, more acoustical panels will be installed to improve sound in the auditorium. The panels will be covered up with a large sheet of fabric to make each set look like one single piece.

Wheeler Avenue Principal Christine Zerillo said as part of a five-year plan, she hopes to have new seats and flooring installed. The seats are original from when Wheeler Avenue was built. Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Lison said it will present a challenge to update the auditorium while still preserving its character.

Zerillo showed the board a former copy room that has been converted into a string instrument room. As for future projects, she is requesting to have the hallway of the first-grade wing painted to match the beige and light blue color scheme of the rest of the building. She is also seeking to have 20 bathroom stall partitions replaced.

At the James A. Dever School, Brosnan said there is a need to install a third boiler. It is the only school with two boilers instead of three.

Last year, Principal Darren Gruen requested that cabinets be installed in the back of the auditorium to store musical instruments but it was cost prohibitive. He showed the board a second-floor storage room that is now being used instead.

Gruen also showed a sink and cabinet replacement project that was completed over the summer in a classroom in the 1956 wing. He is asking for the same work to be completed in another room in that hallway where the wood is rotting. “Over time, we’re requesting that they all be replaced,” he said.

At the Willow Road School, Principal Stephanie Capozzoli is requesting a similar sink and cabinet replacement project in five classrooms.

One of the biggest needs at Howell Road School, Principal Frank Huplosky said, is replacing the asphalt on the handball court. It is sinking and cracked in several places, he showed board members.

Gruen, Capozzoli and Huplosky all requested that the walls and ceilings be painted in their respective school gymnasiums. “It’s our gymnasium as well as our auditorium,” Huplosky said. “We have all of our presentations in here.”

New exterior doors are also being requested for the Willow and Howell Road schools. The doors are original from when those buildings opened in 1952. The two principals are seeking doors similar to those put in at the Wheeler Avenue gym lobby two years ago, which include much more glass.

Gruen is asking for the original interior lobby doors to be replaced at Dever.

Board members got to see in action some technology they have invested in. Zerillo and Gruen both demonstrated how SMART Boards are used in the classroom.

Brosnan said when the district first started purchasing SMART Boards, each unit was portable so it could be moved from classroom to classroom. But soon, the district will own enough for each to have its own. More than 100 are scheduled to be mounted permanently to the wall in rooms throughout the district. “By the end of this year, we’ll have enough for every classroom and many other instructional spaces,” Brosnan said.

Board of Education President Joseph DiSibio said trustees will review the capital project and maintenance requests at the January committee meeting. From there, they will give the administration some direction as to how much can be spent on building projects and what the priorities should be.