NEW BERLIN – The Unadilla Valley Central School District met this week at the New Berlin Fire Hall to take a proactive stance and address the long-term maintenance of the district’s building and grounds.
District leaders planned six meetings – the first of which was held Tuesday, Feb. 11 at the New Berlin Fire Hall – for the winter and spring, and more in the fall in anticipation of a future building project.
The UV Board of Education charged a 20-member community advisory committee – comprised of UV staff, board and community members – to develop a plan for repair, renovation, alteration, expansion and ongoing maintenance of the district’s buildings and grounds. The current school building opened more in 2002, when the South New Berlin and New Berlin Central school districts combined.
“We want the community to help determine what we need to do and have a dialogue so we can continue to provide the best learning environment for our students,” said Superintendent Robert Mackey.
“We want to start planning this now because the longer you put off maintenance, the more expensive it becomes. It’s more cost effective to do smaller, more focused projects more often. We have to look at what the needs are and how we spread them out over time.”
The advisory committee and district leaders plan to hold a meeting with the same agenda on Tuesday, Feb. 25 at the South New Berlin Fire Hall in an effort to get input on the same topic from a larger pool of district residents.
All subsequent meetings will follow the same format and start at 6:30 p.m. Also, the architectural firm who would work on the project will attend the meetings.
Board member and firefighter Jason Gray said he has a vested interest in any change and upgrade to the building for various reasons, but also because he has children at the school.
“My goal is to replace some aging and failing facility systems as well as to upgrade and enhance other systems and security,” he said.
Community member Larissa Hanslmaier – who says she’s “very involved in the community” – points to communication as a reason why she’s serving on the committee.
“My goal is to help provide a connection between the school board and the members of the community, especially the parents of the students,” she said.
The committee will not only develop a long-term maintenance plan for the building and grounds, but the board also charged the newly-appointed members to correct identified life-safety, electrical, mechanical, structural, accessibility and site deficiencies.
In addition the number of identified health and safety issues brought into the spotlight, the district looked for further input to develop appropriate space and provide equipment for the district’s educational instructional support and maintenance and interscholastic programs by forecasting the future needs of the district.
Recently, the district has made efforts to update and expand the type and quality of instructional equipment, so that students and staff may benefit from current technologies and teaching strategies.
While maintaining control over operating expenses now will enable the district invest its future capital more effectively, it's anticipated that it will also provide flexibility to deal with changes in enrollment, curriculum, instructional strategies and state and federal initiatives for the next 25-30 years.
The meetings will allow district leaders to both poll the public and receive comment and opinion on ways to carry out the purposed plans while also demonstrating the commitment of fiscally responsible administrators and board members to the community.
The public is encouraged to make recommendations regarding scope of a capital project to the board of education as well.
The remaining meetings will be held on March 4 and 25 at the New Berlin Fire Hall; and March 18 and April 8 at South New Berlin Fire Hall.
Visit the district website (www.uvstorm.org) for news, meeting capsules and for profiles of the community facilities advisory committee members.