A special vote is being held Tuesday in Averill Park for two school propositions together known as the Capital Project referendum.
The Capital Project referendum, addressing safety, security, accessibility, and opportunity in the Averill Park Central School District, was originally scheduled to be held in May but was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On October 5th, the school board voted to put the referendum out to the public. APCSD Superintendent Jim Franchini says the district in Rensselaer County has been working on the propositions for more than three years.
"First one is $32.7 million. And it's really focused on safety and security. And then addressing critical needs, high priority needs in our facilities, stuff that came through our building condition survey, which is state mandated, that you have to do every five years. So a lot of items in there security, as I mentioned, hardening our vestibules and shooter hardware, those type of things. And then some things that we're looking to really take care of, kinds of long standing problems. We have an old trailer attached to one of our elementary schools, we have a cafeteria that is in need of some renovation and expansion back from the district combined two schools into one, the cafeteria space is now overcrowded.”
Franchini says the second proposition is $12.8 million dollars and focuses on two things:
"Our middle schools Algonquin Middle School has right now we call the PFA Wing. It's Practical and Fine Arts. And that's, that's been like it's been for, you know, 50 plus years, and really looking to modernize that with what we're calling, what would be called, a college and career readiness center. So we're really focused on collaborative spaces, more suitable to the current curriculum and the current learning environment for our students. As program and curriculum have shifted over the years, the spaces become outdated. So it's really a renovation and an upgrade to bring us to the next 50 years. And then the second thing is our physical education, outdoor facility improvements.”
Franchini adds the first proposition must pass in order for the second proposition to pass. As for voter participation:
"We have no idea what to expect in terms of turnout. You know we really haven't had a big Capital Project vote like this in a long, long time. You gotta go back more than 20 years, really, for something this big."
Absentee ballots are also expected. Voting at Averill Park High School hours run from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The vote comes as the high school announced a week of virtual learning related to the pandemic.
