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Board seeks $2.33M in bondsGUILFORD, Feb 26, 2011 (New Haven Register - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The school board wants to put $2.33 million in capital improvements out for bonding as part of its 2011-12 budget, while recently tabling a vote to also bond $600,000 in classroom improvements. Board members said some of the work, including classroom upgrades, is long overdue and can't be put off any longer, despite the weak economy. But questions were raised on whether enough information is being given to taxpayers, who will vote on the issue at the spring budget referendum, because officials aren't yet sure which classrooms would receive what improvements. "We need to tell them what it is they're voting on or electing to defer," member Alan Meyers said of the referendum. "It's not about what they're voting on or electing to defer. It's a funding level," facilities subcommittee Chairman John Ireland countered. The classroom issue will now be considered at a meeting Monday, according to school board Chairman William Bloss. The capital request accompanies the district's $51.17 million operating budget, which is a 2.3 percent increase over this year's $50.02 million. The facilities subcommittee had recommended that $2.5 million in energy and health and safety projects be approved and chose the most urgent proposals from the district's five-year capital plan. But officials nixed a $38,000 phone system replacement in district offices and a $126,000 installation of a new emergency generator at Melissa Jones Elementary School. Approved projects include a second phase of heating, ventilation and cooling improvements for $834,820, a boiler replacement for $300,000 at Elisabeth C. Adams Middle School, and window replacements for $300,000 at Melissa Jones. Approved proposals also include fire alarm and mass evacuation system replacements at Melissa Jones, A.W. Cox Elementary School and Guilford Lakes Elementary School for $403,439 -- which includes $50,000 for possible emergency repairs at the high school -- and communications system upgrades at Adams and Abraham Baldwin Middle School for $186,000. Replacement parts for the communications and fire systems are no longer available, and the schools have no restroom fire detectors, Ireland said. The classroom work would consist of replacing carpets and cabinetry and improving lighting, which the facilities subcommittee has been talking about for more than a year. Guilford High School classrooms would not be included. To see more of New Haven Register, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.nhregister.com. Copyright (c) 2011, New Haven Register, Conn. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. |