NEWFANE — Maintenance and modernization are the goals of a proposed capital improvement project in the Newfane school district. In advance of next week’s public vote on two separate but semi-related ballot propositions, the district is holding a public hearing at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Newfane Middle School.
Billed as Capital Improvement Project 2026, with a combined price tag of $34.7 million, the project calls for miscellaneous infrastructure upgrades at all four school buildings, and modernization of middle school classrooms and the high school technology wing.
Two propositions are going to a public vote on Jan. 15.
Proposition 1 calls for: At the high school, boiler replacement; at the Early Childhood Center, water heater replacement; at the elementary school, heat pump and control replacement in two wings, chimney repointing and library classroom renovation; and at the middle school, replacement of electrical service, floors, interior doors and the flat roof, and renovation of the nurse’s office, the band suite and some classrooms. The projected cost of Proposition 1 is $18 million and the work would be fully financed with state building aid and district capital reserve funds.
The thrust of Proposition 2 is modernization of the middle school, whose classrooms haven’t been updated since the building was opened in 1948, and the high school technology wing. The projected cost of Proposition 2 is $16.7 million. State building aid would cover 81.4% of the tab and the remainder would be picked up by district taxpayers. The projected dollars-and-cents impact is $30 per $100,000 of assessed value.
District superintendent Jay Lupini said the entire balance of an existing capital reserve fund, $1.88 million, was allocated for Proposition 1 work, so there was no reserve cash to apply toward Proposition 2 work.
The proposed modernization projects are about creating more effective learning spaces for students, according to Lupini.
Inside the 75-year-old building that houses the middle school: original lockers are not well placed for current usage of the space; original chalk boards are covered with paste board; original plaster walls have developed cracks. “The outside (of the school) is beautiful, but the inside is dated,” Lupini said. “Our other schools have updated learning spaces that are more conducive … .Teachers can’t use the same tools or strategies” at the middle school currently.
Proposition 2 work items at the middle school include renovation of bathrooms, the nurse’s office and shower room, and renovation of all classrooms not addressed through Proposition 1.
The high school technology wing, where traditional industrial arts instruction occurs, needs reconfiguring as “a flexible, adaptable space to keep with with technology trends and employment trends,” Lupini said.
Currently, there’s a space in the wing for welding instruction, with outdated equipment that doesn’t get much use, since Orleans/Niagara BOCES provides high school-level welding instruction at its Career and Technical Education centers in Sanborn and Medina. Meanwhile, Lupini said, the trends in technology and employment point to a need for STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) education. Proposition 2 calls for converting the tech wing to a STEAM area and purchasing STEAM equipment.
In the reconfigured tech wing, Lupini said, “historical” industrial arts such as woodwork and computer-aided design would remain “but the footprint will be much different.”
The public vote on the proposals will be held Jan. 15, between noon and 8 p.m., at Newfane Elementary School.
While there are two propositions on the ballot, voters are not being asked to settle an “either/or” question. Proposition 2 is contingent upon passage of Proposition 1, meaning modernizing work will only occur if voters also authorize maintenance work.
The projected construction timeline is: Proposition 1, mid 2027 through 2029; Proposition 2, phase one, 2028-2029, and phase two (middle school classroom renovations), 2029-2030.