The North Bellmore Board of Education has adopted a proposed $26.5 million capital bond that district officials say would address major facilities, safety and accessibility needs without any tax impact on the community.
The proposal is expected to go before voters in a special district referendum on Dec. 3 at Newbridge Road School. Additional information about the projects and opportunities for community engagement are expected to be provided in the coming weeks.
The North Bellmore School District serves all of North Bellmore elementary-aged students and a small portion of North Merrick.
The proposal follows years of facilities planning and building improvements across the district. “These potential projects represent a long-term investment in our schools and in the safety, accessibility and quality of our learning environments,” district Superintendent Marie Testa stated in a release sent to the Herald about the bond.
The proposal includes several categories of work identified through the district’s 2026 building condition survey. The largest portion, roughly $13.6 million, would go toward major roof work at all six school buildings. Other proposed improvements include security upgrades, interior and exterior door hardware, one-button lockdown systems and door access control.
The plan also calls for playground additions, field improvements such as benches and bleachers, window replacements at Newbridge Road School, elevators at Saw Mill Road and John G. Dinkelmeyer elementary schools, and districtwide air conditioning in gymnasiums. As well, work that will make school facilities more accessible is part of the district’s effort to bring its buildings into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“We're required to make sure that anything that we're doing in our buildings is ADA-compatible,” Testa said. “So when we're putting in projects to the state, we have to continually move forward to ensure that we have ADA compliance in our buildings.”
The Saw Mill Road and Dinkelmeyer schools, Testa added, were identified as the next two schools where elevators could most readily be installed. She noted that the buildings also have some of the district’s largest student populations.
Planning for aging buildings
The district’s facilities planning is guided in part by building condition surveys required by the State Education Department. The surveys examine conditions throughout school buildings and assign priorities to identified needs. The district completed a survey in 2021, and used it to develop a multiyear plan. The projects that have been addressed in recent years included brick pointing, security vestibules, perimeter fencing, pavement, sidewalks, ceilings, playgrounds, electrical upgrades, air conditioning and lighting.
In 2025, Testa said, the district completed a series of projects involving ceilings, lighting, concrete, asphalt, parking lots, fences and security vestibules, among other work.
It is also planning additional bathroom renovations at Martin Avenue, Dinkelmeyer and Park Avenue elementary schools next summer, and Newbridge Road, Saw Mill Road and Gunther in 2028.
At a meeting on Sept. 10, Brigid Siena, the assistant superintendent for business, explained that the district generally uses three funding sources to address facility needs: the annual budget, capital reserves and, for larger projects, bonds.
Siena compared the process to maintaining a home, in which repairs that were completed years earlier will eventually need to be addressed again. She said that items that cannot be addressed in the budget or with capital reserves can become part of a bond proposal — particularly more extensive projects, such as roof replacements.
“Roof life expectancy is about 35 years, and we're really at that point in time here at North Bellmore,” Siena said.
How the bond would have no tax impact
District officials said the bond would have no tax impact because of a combination of existing budget capacity, retiring debt and state building aid.
Existing budget capacity, Siena said, would help fund the work, while the district’s current debt is expected to be retired in 2028-29. The bond would replace that debt, according to the district.
North Bellmore also receives just under 79 percent of the cost of projects approved by the state in building aid. “So those three things working together means no additional cost to taxpayers,” Siena said.
The district’s 2026 building condition survey was completed ahead of its required timeline to help with the details of the bond and to identify the district’s current priorities.
The facilities planning process, Testa said, has involved administrators, staff, the Board of Education, architects, construction managers, the district treasurer and legal advisers. “We meet every Friday, all summer long,” she said. “It’s been a team approach.”
If the referendum proceeds as planned, the district expects to launch a website with frequently asked questions and detailed information about the proposed projects. Officials also plan to hold community information sessions at district buildings, and to provide information through newsletters.
A more detailed presentation on the proposal is expected at the Oct. 15 Board of Education meeting, followed by continued community presentations and information in November. The district also plans to mail a bond newsletter with voting information.
