MIDDLEPORT: Roy-Hart facilities project shot down

Local News

November 16, 2007

By Joe Olenick/olenickj@gnnewspaper.com The Lockport Union-Sun %26 Journal Fri Nov 16, 2007, 01:20 AM EST

The 2007 Royalton-Hartland Central School District Facilities Project is dead.

Residents voted 385-331 against the renovation and expansion project that would have raised taxes approximately 17 cents more per $1,000 of assessed value.

The total cost for the project would have been about $15 million, with most being covered by state aid. The amount after the aid would be about $1.4 million, which is the amount that residents would be responsible for and paying through the tax increase. Superintendent Paul Bona said the district will try to find out what parts of the project residents did not like.

“At this point, I’m asking the board, as they’re out and about in the community, to try and get a sense of particular areas that may have caused this defeat,” Bona said. “We have to assess it. It was close, if the board of education is able to get a pulse ... they may reconsider as one of their options to put forth another proposal before the community and voters.”

A big part of the project was regular maintenance and repair for all schools, leading Bona to believe that some parts of the proposal may have given people “a cause for concern.”

“I’m not sure anybody would have a problem with the portion of it that was for the routine maintenance items. There are certain things we do know, we need to try and investigate and find out some of the areas that would have caused people not to support it,” he said.

Bona said the board of education will want to take a look and speak to residents in the district to “get a feel or a sense” about what those parts were. There were no exit surveys at Roy-Hart High School where the voting took place, and Bona suggested the board may conduct some sort of survey. Both Bona and the board of education will “get their thoughts together” for the next meeting and discuss options.

In the project, some additions for the middle school would have been a field house with a new gymnasium, new locker rooms, extra storage, a concession area and an indoor running track. One of the main complaints from students is the need for newer locker rooms in the physical education classes.

Roy-Hart high school was slated to receive some renovations in the auditorium and science rooms. The school would have received a new heating and air conditioning system, as well as new generators. The old ones would be too expensive to get rid of, so the district would keep them as a backup system.

The voter turnout was a bright spot.

“It was a great turnout for a small district,” said board vice president Susan Hughes.

Board president Patricia Riegle asked people to come to the next school board meeting to talk about what concerned them about the project. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday Nov. 29 at Roy-Hart High School.

“We would like to invite the public to attend,” she said. “We will give them a place (to voice concerns).”

For more information about the facilities project, visit the district’s Web site, www.royhart.org.

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