On April 21, the Averill Park Central School District Board of Education voted to rescind the Capital Project referendum, which was slated to take place at the same time as the annual budget vote this spring.
“Throughout the process of building this capital project, the Board of Education always put the needs of our community at the forefront,” BOE president Jessica Zweig said. “We realize that we are in a much different economic state right now and must continue to think of our community members and the hardships that they are currently facing. For that reason, we have decided that we cannot bring a proposition of this magnitude to our community at this time. We look forward to a time when we can conduct this vote as we believe that this capital project is a necessity and is valuable to our school community.”
APCSD spent two years researching, developing and collaborating on the Capital Project. The result was a $38.8 million project which focused on three key areas: Safety and Security, Critical Building Maintenance and Program Enhancements. All seven buildings that the district owns, including all three elementary schools, middle school, high school, transportation building and the George Washington School would see improvements.
“While we feel strongly that the work encompassed in the project needs to be completed, we are sensitive to the struggles in our community, the state, and the country as a whole during this pandemic. With that in mind, we did not feel that it was appropriate to add this burden onto our taxpayers at this time,” APCSD Superintendent Dr. Franchini said. “Throughout this process we decided to do everything right, not rushed. Delaying the vote is in the best interest of our community.”
Though the vote has been rescinded, it will still take place in the future. APCSD is now targeting the Fall as a time for the project vote.