OXFORD – Residents of the Oxford Academy and Central School district will head to the polls tomorrow to decide the fate of the district’s proposed $10.16 million capital project. The project, referred to as “phase II,” follows on the coat-tails of the $4.65 million phase I project approved by voters last fall.
The scope of work for the $10,160,375 project consists of $7,150,880 in improvements at the Oxford Middle School – to include reconstruction of existing classrooms and facilities, installation of equipment to enable wireless connectivity, elevation of the boiler room and conversion of the building’s steam heating system to hot water.
At the Primary School, $161,425 has been allocated for site work and reconstruction, to include playground improvements, air conditioning in a hand full of classrooms and installation of wireless technology.
$2,848,069 will be spent at the High School, of which $648,060 will be allocated to relocate the district and special programs offices, expand the school’s art room and develop a shared entrance with the Primary School. School officials have stressed this will help make the building more secure during the school day, and will not affect students at the start of the day or at dismissal.
The remaining $1.34 million is slated for site work at the Primary/High School campus, including new bleachers and other improvements to the school’s athletic fields. Drainage issues will also be addressed.
Squier described the biggest benefits of the project as being that it will both “take care of long term needs of the middle school building,” and allow the buildings and fields to be updated “with no impact on the local tax levy.”
“If the referendum is defeated, the district is still responsible for maintaining the buildings and fields and will have to complete that work utilizing local tax dollars,” he explained.
According to Squier, $9,960,000 of the project’s total projected $10,160,375 cost will be funded through a combination of state building aid and EXCEL aid. The remaining $200,375 will be expended out of the district’s capital reserve fund. He has stressed on multiple occasions that the project will not lead to a local tax increase.
The superintendent reported he has received many questions along one particular theme: Will Oxford taxpayers be responsible for footing the entire bill for the project if state funding disappears?
In response, he describes the project approval process, the first step of which occurred when the board established the voter referendum. If the project is approved by voters tomorrow, the plans will then go to the State Education Department. If the project gains the approval of the state agency, he explained, “the district receives a bond promissory certificate note from the state; which is their agreement to fund the project.” Only at that point will the district go out to bid on the project.
If the state were to renege on its obligation and default on its bonds, it would not only have to “revoke legislation that has been in existence for over 80 years,” Squier reported. The effects of such a “catastrophic event,” he added, would be much more far-reaching than just Oxford.
Documents pertaining to the project’s scope of work, the planning process to date and minutes from the two public forums held earlier this month can all be accessed on the district’s website, www.oxac.org. The special edition of The Blackhawk Bulletin pertaining to the capital project, which was mailed out to district residents at the end of October, is also available online.
“I encourage all residents to vote on Thursday,” said Superintendent Randy Squier, who explained that only with school districts are residents able to directly decide on major capital expenditures.
Fewer than 300 residents - 287 to be exact - voted in the last voter referendum, held in September 2009. In that vote, the $4.65 phase I capital project being proposed passed by a margin of 152 to 135.
Polls will be open from 1 to 9 p.m. in the Oxford High School’s Performing Arts Auditorium. To be eligible to vote in the voter referendum, an individual must be a U.S. citizen over the age of 18 and have resided in the district for a minimum of 30 days.