SALAMANCA — Residents of the Salamanca City Central School District with opinions on the state of school facilities have the opportunity to be heard at several public meetings in the coming weeks.
After voter approval of a sublease of Veterans Memorial Park from the city Dec. 18, the school district is moving ahead on plans for a potential facilities project by finalizing the specifications this winter, as well as other improvements needed in district buildings.
“Our focus here is to get community input into the types of improvements across the entire district, including the amenities at Vets Park, but also other areas of concern,” said Superintendent Robert Breidenstein.
The first couple of seven scheduled meetings were held Tuesday at Prospect Elementary School.
The rest of the community forums to discuss a May referendum are scheduled for:
At each meeting, building administrators and other school officials are expected to be present to lead or take part in the discussions with district residents.
The meetings “will be fairly open ended, it will allow folks to talk and provide some input and hopefully we’ll get some good feedback to add to what roughly 200 people provided at the forums in November and December,” Breidenstein said.
Besides Vets Park, the meetings would look at additional improvements and enhancements, Breidenstein said, such as athletics, safety, transportation and investment in facilities.
“I would imagine that at each of the building locations and sites when we have the public comment sessions, would be what are folks in the community hearing, seeing and sensing our needs are at each of the buildings,” he said.
At the meetings, Breidenstein said they hope to hear of issues specific to each respective building where the meetings are held as well as district-wide issues and less glamorous needs like parking lot renovation and electrical work.
“The goal is to sit down at each site with folks from those communities and talk about what their hopes, dreams, wishes and aspirations are,” he added.
A referendum for the potential facilities improvement project that would include Vets Park is expected to be held May 21 to coincide with the district budget vote, Breidenstein said.
“That will give us time to map out what the priorities will be over the next couple months,” he explained.
Although the idea of what would need to be done at Vets Park is already mostly set, Breidenstein said they hope to include other work at facilities from across the district, such as the infrastructure within the walls and security upgrades, that were taken out of the ongoing capital project.
At past meetings, Breidenstein said rough estimates for improvements at Vets Park could be between $10 and $15 million, which would increase with other facilities improvements.
“We would be looking at additional expenditures using existing district funds, state monies and federal monies,” he said. “I think I can safely say, as I’ve said since 2011, I do not see any pathway where we would be going to the community and asking them for more money.”
Between the end of the public forums and the vote, Breidenstein said the winter and early spring months would include several public presentations on the fiscal breakdown and timeline of a potential project, similar to what was done in 2017 for the current capital project. These would be done for various groups throughout the community that would have a say in the project, he said.
“Even though May seems like a distant time in the future, it’s going to escalate quickly,” Breidenstein said. “This is the time for the community to put forward their concerns and what they would like to see invested in. This is something that would hopefully last for generations, which is why we want as much community input as we can.”
Breidenstein encourages those who cannot attend a meeting to call the school, 945-2400; visit the website, salamancany.org; or stop down to any school building for more information.
(Contact managing editor Kellen Quigley at kquigleysp@gmail.com)