Hewlett High School science renovations fall short, board addresses issues

The Hewlett-Woodmere Board of Education held a special meeting last week, after walk-throughs of the construction that is under way in 10 Hewlett High School science classrooms revealed what the trustees described as surprising and disappointing results.

The board members met with district Superintendent Ralph Marino Jr.; Hewlett High Principal Alexandra Greenberg; Science Department Chair Brian Terry; Kim Parahus, director of school facilities and operations; and Joe Grillo, of JAG Architects, at the Woodmere Education Center on Sept. 4, the day after students returned to school, to discuss renovation plans that the trustees said went awry. About 20 community members also attended.

“The object of this is to see how we can get to where we want to get,” Board President Debra Sheinin told Grillo, Parahus and the administrators as the meeting began. “We’re not talking about personnel, and we’re not here to point fingers. We want to fix what we can and have these great, state-of-the-art science rooms that the community and the board thought that you were promoting.”

The renovations were first discussed in August 2022, and later approved as part of an $18.3 million capital project that also encompassed science classroom renovations at Woodmere Middle School, a redesign of the Hewlett High School auditorium and the installation of new artificial turf on the high school football field.

The high school science classrooms were last renovated in 2004, Parahus said at a meeting in January 2023, when the project was introduced to the community.

School board Trustee Judy Menashe said at last week’s meeting that $5.2 million had been earmarked for those specific renovations, and Sheinin noted that $3 million had been spent so far.

The initial renderings had included state-of-the-art technology and a futuristic design, with large interactive flat-screen monitors, metal collaborative lab tables and mobile options for classroom resources, Sheinin and other board members said. But when they walked through the building in late August and again last week, the trustees saw large wooden, stationary lab tables — too large for an adequate number of desks to fit in the classroom — and no advanced technology, a picture very different from what they envisioned when the plan was presented, several trustees said.

“The first thing I have to do is completely apologize to the Board of Education,” Grillo said at the Sept 4 meeting.

He explained that he created the design based on general science rooms he had worked on in the past, not necessarily taking into account the specific features of the high school’s classrooms.

“Stupid me — and I’ve done some really stupid things, and this is probably one of the dumbest,” Grillo said. “I used a set of pretty pictures from one of my other projects.”

He added that after he noted the setup and size of the science rooms, he determined that the smaller spaces at the high school would not accommodate his initial design, and other alterations were made based on decisions along the way, such as the switch from metal to wooden furniture, after the project’s approval. At this point in the renovations, Grillo said, “punch lists” — notes on additional technological features and other furniture — are being made to improve the work.

“I don’t even know what to say about this,” Board Vice President Cheryl May said. “The community did not vote on this, and yet you took it upon yourself to bring something that was not even close to what we envisioned.”

Trustee Chana Jeter added that the current renovations are not functional or sustainable for the future.

“Do you really think that the classrooms, where we are right now, are going to be in line with what science is going to offer in 10, 15 years?” Jeter said. “Because I don’t.”

A school district resident commented that students would not be able to conduct their required labs in the incomplete rooms, which the trustees confirmed.

“I can speak to the fact that this image was not the vision that was proposed,” Central Council PTA member Bonnie Kurtz said. “I was also part of pitching this to the community, and this isn’t what we pitched.”

After an executive session, Sheinin asked that the board, Grillo, Parahus and administrators return to the Woodmere Education Center on Sept. 24, at 7 p.m., with a corrective action plan for the renovations that will meet the community’s expectations for the project.

“We’re going to hold on the Woodmere Middle School plans until the high school is fixed, and the community is happy with what we’ve done,” Sheinin said.

Have an opinion on the high school renovation plans? Send a letter to

pschug@liherald.com.