RVC School Improvement Bond Passes

After months of debate, Rockville Centre residents approved a $45.9 million school improvement bond Tuesday.

The measure passed by more than 600 votes, with the final tally coming in at 2,078 to 1,465.

The bond will go toward structural improvements and enhancements at each of the five elementary schools, as well as South Side Middle School and High School and the administrative building.

A bulk of the total comes from spatial need improvements at the high school to the tune of $26.3 million.

Other major projects at the secondary level schools include a $570,000 roof replacement at the high school, $875,000 worth of auditorium replacements at the middle school and high school, and $810,000 for mechanical fresh air at both schools and the administrative building.

A grand total of $2.7 million will go to athletic enhancements at the high school, including nearly $1.6 million for a new turf field within the existing track.

At the elementary school level, three additional classrooms will be created at Watson due a "population boom" that has left the school strapped for space. The additions will cost $2.7 million.

Covert, Hewitt, Riverside, Watson and Wilson will all receive mechanical fresh air at a cost of $960,000, while air conditioning in the main assembly spaces of all schools but Covert will cost nearly $1.2 million.

Roof replacements at Covert and Watson will add up to $2.1 million and a boiler replacement at Wilson will cost $570,000.

District-wide enhancements include air conditioning for classrooms at a cost of $960,000, air conditioning at 40 additional instructional spaces at $240,000 and security cameras at $200,000.

Dozens of other improvements, from door replacements to table storage, account for the remaining cost estimates.