By Stephanie Petrellese

The Garden City Board of Education focused its attention once again on the bond being considered to fund capital improvements in the district during a special May 26th work session. Architects from Burton, Behrendt and Smith, a Long Island-based, multi-discipline architectural and engineering firm specializing in educational design, were able to reduce the total bond being considered from $45,188,228 to $35,063,382.

"Right now I'm quite pleased," School Board President Colleen Foley said. "I feel that I could support such an item in an October vote."

The firm made a total of $4,332,450 in reductions to facility-driven projects. A total of $837,000 was removed after administrators met with architect Roger P. Smith to determine what smaller-scale projects could be included in the annual capital budget as opposed to a bond initiative. The firm cut $3.4 million in projects which they identified as those that can be postponed. In another attempt at cost-cutting, the scope of four to six projects was reduced. The total for facility-driven projects now totals $15,423,356.

The firm was able to make an additional $4,392,393 cut in spatial, or program-driven projects, at the Middle School. Originally, renovations at the Middle School included adding a gymnasium, reconfiguring the parking lots and renovating the south gymnasium for other purposes.

The firm now recommends making a multi-use space Smith referred to as a "gym station," and a corridor which would allow for circulation round the building. Locker rooms currently located in the basement would be moved to the first floor. They will be smaller than originally proposed by 400 sq. ft., but are configured to ensure that student health and safety is not jeopardized. Currently the locker rooms are between 2,400 and 2,500 sq. ft. but contain much wasted space, according to BBS architect Joseph Rettig. The vacated spaces will then be available for storage. The parking lot plan to improve the circulation of people and vehicular traffic would remain mostly unchanged. Spatial projects now total $19,640,026.

"Programmatically, it works," Smith said. "This is what you have and now it's in the right place....It is the answer to what you were looking for." He said the new gym would be "wonderful" to have, but it was not necessary to relieve the circulation problems.

The district is looking to fund some of the projects with $1,354,584 million in New York State EXCEL funds. The EXCEL (Expanding our Children's Education and Learning) grant allows districts to make improvements to education technology, health and safety areas, energy and physical capacity expansion or school construction. The public must vote on whether or not to opt into the program to be eligible for the funds. The district can only take advantage of the grant once.

A bond is usually paid over 20 years, according to Albert Chase, the district's assistant superintendent for business and finance. Currently the district is paying $3.7 million in debt service, which costs the average homeowner $383.18. If a $35 million bond is approved at a 4.5 percent interest rate, Chase calculated that homeowners will be required to pay roughly $437.80 in 2011. The amount would rise to a high of $654.13 in 2014, and then decrease every year thereafter as the district's existing debt service drops off.

Smith said the school board has stayed close to a timeline he presented at the March 10th work session. An environmental consultant has started preliminary work to determine the appropriate review path to follow under the State Environmental Quality Review Act.

Smith tentatively set August 18th as the date the Board should, if they choose to do so, adopt a bond resolution and set a referendum date. The referendum date must be set at least 45 days ahead of time. Smith recommended a referendum be held in October, which he said is the month when many districts prefer to hold such a vote because it gives them time to educate the public and allow for schools to settle down after opening in September.