Photo by Howard Owens.
The Oakfield-Alabama Central School District is considering a new $23 million capital improvement project that would modernize and reconfigure classrooms, replace outdated heating and air units, upgrade locker rooms, replace and upgrade athletic fields, and add new parking.
The district would need to issue $20 million in bonds to finance the project at a cost of $7.2 million in interest.
If approved, the district would use $3 million from the capital reserve fund as a "down payment" on the expenditure.
State aid would cover 93.4 percent of the $20 million, which would be reimbursed to the district over the life of the 15-year bond. If the project is approved by the board, voters in the district will get a chance to vote yes or no in December.
Consultants from SEI Design Group, who have been working with the district's facilities committee, presented an outline of the proposal plan to the Board of Education on Tuesday.
A big reason the district can cover the local share of the school building project without a tax increase is that when the district bonded (borrowed money), the annual payment on principal was $350,000 less than budgeted, said Christine Griffin, district business manager.
That $350,000 in the 2023-24 budget was used to finance a playground. Going forward, it could help offset the cost of the new capital improvement project, negating the need for a higher tax rate to cover the local share of the project.
Existing capital reserve funds would also help cover the local share costs.
Board members wanted to know what portion of the project is critical, that it must be completed soon, and the answer is pretty much all of the school building work.
The critical portions of the project include replacing the high school and middle school HVAC rooftop units, which are 30 to 40 years old.
"The biggest thing is going to be mechanical, electrical plumbing impacts," said Richard Little, business development with SEI. "These were items that were identified during the (committee). The HVAC rooftop units are either being worked on excessively or reached the end of their usefulness. We can't get parts, so we need to replace them. Those were flagged not only by the engineers but also by (the committee)."
Then in the science classroom, the concrete slabs have settled in areas creating uneven floors.
"We're going to have to tear the rooms out just to fix the slab settlement issue," Little said.
There is also work that needs to be done on the pool and on an auditorium wall, Little said. There is also carpet that is worn out and needs to be replaced with new flooring (it won't be carpet, Little said).
"Once you go into a room and start working on it, once you've touched it, you are not going to be able to go back to that room for 15 years without being penalized or questioned," Little said, addressing state aid rules about school renovation projects. "So once we're in there, we're taking advantage of it and renovating more spaces. You can vary that if you want to. You can make different types of modifications, but it's just a good opportunity to get that funding from the state."
The school building proposal, if broken out into a separate ballot initiative, would cost $15.6 million. The athletic field portion would be $7.3 million. It would include a new oval track, new shotput and jump pits, as well as new softball and baseball fields.
The board will decide at its October meeting whether to ask the voters to approve the two aspects of the project separately or together.
Trustee Matt Lamb expressed concern that there are people in the community who are hearing rumors that the district is considering a new football stadium, which isn't the case.
"I got a phone call from somebody who wasn't able to attend the meeting tonight and described the project as the football stadium project, so we just need to be careful that this isn't seen as the football stadium capital project," Lamb said.
Trustee Jeff Hyde noted that since Batavia High built a new stadium, Van Detta is in steady use for various events, not just school events. And though this isn't a stadium project, he said he thinks an upgrade to the track and ball fields help bring more visitors into Oakfield.
"I mean, if I'm a business owner, if I'm smart, if I'm somebody who wants more people in this town, this is something that may give it to us," Hyde said.
For a PDF of the SEI presentation, click here.
