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December 6, 2024
Dear Parents, Students, Community Members, Faculty and Staff,
As we continue to prepare for both a capital project vote on January 16th and for the development of the 2025-2026 school budget that will be brought to voters in May, we believe that it is extremely important that we keep all members of the community informed on all that is transpiring.This email update includes a summary of past updates along with some new information. Specifically, this update touches on these three topics.
- A summary of the capital project proposal
- Answers to some frequently asked questions about the capital project
- An early look at the short term and long term finances of the district
I hope you find it useful and that you will reach out to me if you have any questions.
Capital Project Summary
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Commonly Asked Questions Associated with the Capital Project
What is a Capital Project?
Just like a home, school facilities need regular attention and upkeep to continue to operate year to year. Some issues require immediate attention, while other improvements and repairs can be spread out over time. This is done in much the same way a homeowner obtains a loan to fund major repairs, such as a roof or to HVAC units. For school districts, it is referred to as a Capital Project. With Capital Projects school districts can access state aid to help offset the local tax impact. The District is also able to borrow money allowing the cost to be repaid over time. It would not be feasible to do many of the large scale repairs/improvements that we are suggesting as part of the regular yearly budget process because it would take too much time and we would not get state aid on the projects.
Why have a vote on January 16th when the weather might be bad?
The capital project was approved by the school board on November 6th. On November 7th, a postcard was sent to all residents of the district telling them about the proposed project and about the presentation on November 20th. We were pleased that so many people turned up for the presentation and asked good questions.
One question that was asked was why it was decided to have the vote in January rather than do it along with the regular budget vote in May. The answer was that it takes a very long time to get approval for a capital project and some of the fixes being proposed in the capital project are immediate needs. We were informed by our architect that if we could get the vote finalized before February we could begin work in the summer of 2026. After February, it was likely that most of the project would be pushed out to a start date of summer 2027. It is true that having a vote that is separate from the May budget vote will cost the district over $10,000. However, the board felt this was a reasonable price to pay to get necessary work done up to a year earlier.
How to vote with an absentee ballot or by early mail
We realize that a January vote might be difficult for some. The weather in January will likely not be as accommodating as the weather in May. However, a winter vote is not uncommon. Both Ellenville and Rondout held capital project votes on December 3rd. It was also our intention to have the vote in December but because of the Presidential elections we could not get the voting machines in early December so we avoided a vote near Christmas by moving to January.
Some people may be out of town in January and others might not want to brave the cold. Absentee Ballot Applications and Early Mail Ballot Applications will be available and posted on the school website on/about December 16th, or can be picked up in person. If you would like an Absentee Ballot Application or Early Mail Ballot Application mailed to you, please contact the District Clerk via email at sermo@newpaltz.k12.ny.us or regular mail at District Clerk, New Paltz Central School District, 196 Main Street, New Paltz, NY 12561.
All Absentee Ballot Applications and Early Mail Ballot Applications must be received by the District Clerk by January 9, 2025 if the ballot is to be mailed to the voter, or by January 15, 2025 if the Absentee or Early Mail Ballot will be picked up personally. Absentee Ballots and Early Mail Ballots issued by the District Clerk in person may only be given to the voter. By law, the original signature of the absentee voter/early mail voter is required on the application, and the application must be delivered to the District Clerk by mail or in person. Applications cannot be accepted electronically. All Absentee Ballots/Early Mail Ballots must be received by the District Clerk no later than 5:00 PM on Thursday, January 16, 2025. For further information, please contact the District Clerk at 845-256-4020 or sermo@newpaltz.k12.ny.us.
Why was a capital project for a pool put up in these difficult financial times?
I have only worked for the NPCSD for a little under two years, but during this time the board has proven to me that they truly listen to what the public has to say. During the time when the structure of a capital project was being discussed, a large number of vocal swim enthusiasts came out and let their opinions be known. While this is definitely a difficult financial and political time for a school to consider a large expenditure, it is true that a pool will never be less expensive than it is now. For these reasons, the board decided to put to a vote what has apparently been discussed in the community for many years. The board made the decision to allow this issue to come to the community for a vote so that the issue can be settled by the voters. My job, and the job of the school board, is now to educate the public on all facets of the capital project, including the pool, so the voters can make the best decisions for themselves and their families.
How will we deal with the closing of the SUNY pool?
For many years the NPCSD swim teams have been practicing and competing at the pool at SUNY. We appreciate SUNY allowing us to rent their pool at the price of only about $5,300 per year. It is true that SUNY will soon be closing their pool for an extended period of time for renovations. On November 13, at a meeting with local officials including Dr. Wheeler and other SUNY leaders, we were told that the SUNY pool will likely be closed for three years starting in summer or fall 2026. This means that we will need to find a place for our swim teams to practice and compete for the next three school years. I believe that many people think that the capital project will help solve this or mitigate this problem. However, I think it is important for everyone to know that, even if proposition #3 is approved by the voters on January 16, the pool will not be completed until sometime in 2028. Therefore, building our own pool will likely not help solve the problem of SUNY closing their pool for three years. For the three years that the SUNY pool is closed or we are building a school pool, our swim teams will have to practice and compete at another high school, college, or YMCA in our area.
Will students receive swim lessons if we build a school aquatics center?
During the time when people were advocating for including a pool in the capital project, the importance of all children learning to swim was often brought up. The board definitely agreed with this sentiment and they do want all of our children to be safe. However, it is very important for the community to understand that swim lessons will not be offered to students during the school days on a regular basis. There is simply not enough time in the school day for elementary or middle school students to be bussed to the high school for regular swim lessons. In addition, there are no plans to require high school students to take swimming lessons during the school day as part of their physical education programs.
If we won’t be offering/requiring swim lessons during the school day, who would use the pool?
While we won’t be requiring students to take swim lessons, if a pool is built we expect to offer swim electives to high school students during the school day. The total number of electives might vary, but it is likely we would offer two or three electives per day
Our swim teams would use the pool for practices and competitions. The girls team competes in the fall and the boys team competes in the winter.
The pool would be available for rent to outside organizations or for use by a school continuing education program. It is likely that some organizations would want to organize swim lessons, adult swim, and open swim sessions. It is important for everyone to know that the school board is supportive of community members using our beautiful facilities as often as possible.
What would be the ongoing cost of an aquatics center?
The estimated cost for maintaining the pool for a year is about $17,000. It is believed that the pool will not significantly increase the amount of manpower needed to maintain the pool as it would be a state of the art self cleaning and self filtering pool. However, extra custodial work will be generated by the need to clean and maintain the pool area and the new locker rooms that would be built.
Additional personnel would also be needed to make swim electives possible. Although the school would not be paying for someone to teach regular swim lessons, it would be necessary to hire a certified swim teacher to teach the two or three HS swim electives that we would offer each day. The estimated cost of a swim instructor, whose services would fall under the New Paltz United Teachers bargaining agreement, would be about $100,000 to $120,000 including salary and benefits, depending on the experience of the teacher and the health care plan they choose.
In NYS it is required that a lifeguard be present whenever swim instructions are being given. Therefore, we would need to also hire a lifeguard or use a variety of people to provide lifeguard services during the school day and during swim practices. It is difficult to put a number on the cost of a lifeguard as it will depend on whether we hire one person or many. If we use one person it will be much more convenient and easy to schedule, however the cost will be higher as we will also offer them benefits. A rough guess would be that lifeguard services would cost us at least $50,000 per year.
We are contemplating building an 8 lane pool and an 8 lane track. Will we be able to host sports events that will help pay the cost of building these facilities?
The answer to this question is a big “maybe”. The school does pay some money to send our track teams and swim teams to big tournaments at other schools and facilities. It has been suggested by many that our school could make money by hosting these events. While this may be possible, it is important for all the voters to understand that this is not something the school is promising or advocating for. We are not counting on generating these funds and they do not figure into any of our cost estimates. Voters should not count on these funds being generated as they consider whether or not to support the capital project propositions.
Is an artificial turf field a good idea?
This is also a decision voters will have to make for themselves. We have heard from many people that they are concerned about the environmental and safety impacts of artificial turf. The board is aware of these concerns and considered them fully as they debated on whether or not to include artificial turf in the capital project. The final decision to include artificial turf was based on equity and availability.
Right now, the Floyd Patterson field is used only for home football games. Five or six football games do a lot of damage to the field and therefore other sports do not have access to the field. However, there are many other sports and teams who would love to play on the big field under the lights. By going with turf, this would allow the field to be used constantly by football, lacrosse, and soccer teams at all levels.
So, it is easy to see both sides of the argument. Voters should look into the research done on turf fields and weigh that information vs. the cost of putting in turf and the availability benefits to a large number of student athletes. Voters should also consider the fact that the estimated annual maintenance cost for a turf field is about $8,000 per year for a field with “average” use.
Why were solar panels and heat pumps not included in the capital project?
This question was also brought up repeatedly during facilities meetings and capital project discussions, including on Wednesday night. The capital project does include replacing all of the lights in the district with energy saving LED lights, however some have expressed that this does not do enough to help the environment.
It is important to note that solar panels and heat pumps were strongly considered by both the facilities committee and the school board throughout the process. Both groups relied heavily on the advice of our architects from H2M. Their advice was quite clear. While there might be grants that would help with the purchasing of some solar panels, these grants are not something we can count on. Furthermore, an analysis of the return on investment, taking into consideration the very low rate we pay for electricity, indicated that it would take too long to realize any return on our investment. While everyone understands and acknowledges the value of heat pumps, our architect advised us that it is not really possible at this time to heat and cool an entire school with mini-splits. Also, given the fact that our boilers still have several good years of life in them the board decided it was better to wait until our existing pumps boilers are closer to the end of their lives and when the technology would better enable us to use renewable resources to heat and cool the schools.
If the project is approved by voters, when will the work start?
Pending voter approval, the plans and specifications would need to be completed by the architects and engineers. The plans would then be submitted to New York State for approval. The approval from the state has been taking between 30-32 weeks. The start of construction work is dependent on SED approval, but would be expected to begin during the summer of 2026 and be completed by the fall of 2027 with the exception of the aquatic center which would be scheduled to be completed in early 2028.
When and where will the vote be held?
The vote will be held on Thursday, January 16th from 7am to 9pm in the New Paltz High School Gym.
Who Can Vote?
To be eligible to vote on the capital project, you must be a citizen of the United States, age 18 or older, and a resident of the New Paltz Central School District for the past 30 days or more. Voters registered with the Ulster County Board of Election are automatically registered to vote.
An Update on Long and Short Term Financial Planning
At a recent school board meeting I gave a presentation to the public on the long term financial outlook of the school district as well as a look ahead at the 2025-2026 school year. You can see the presentation in its entirety by clicking on this link. You can see the slides from the presentation by clicking on this link.
We believe it is appropriate to inform the community about the difficult financial situation we are likely to face in the spring. It is important for voters to know as they consider the capital project that the increases that will be caused by a successful capital project vote will be in addition to the regular tax increases we will be facing to create a balanced budget.
It is not possible for us to tell you now how much the tax rate will go up. In NYS, schools have to follow the 2% tax cap law that says that schools can’t increase their tax rate by more than the tax cap formula says. In reality, the tax cap is rarely 2%. In fact, a graph of recent tax caps shows that the rate varies a great deal from year to year.
So, it is likely that tax bills will increase in 2025-2026 anywhere from 1% to 4% in addition to any increases caused by a successful vote on the capital project.
We know that this is not all good news for taxpayers. The New Paltz Central School District is considered to be a well off district by the state. Therefore, we don’t really get much state aid. In our district, the taxpayers pay for about 70% of the cost of running our school.
Over the last two school years the district has been in the situation where the revenue has not covered the expenses. As a result, we have had to use a significant amount of fund balance each year to balance the budget and we have made substantial staffing cuts as well as a general tightening of our belts in all other areas.
While the staffing cuts have been difficult, we are pleased that the cuts have been made without cutting academic programs. The ability to make these cuts has been made possible by the fact that we have seen a significant reduction in student enrollment over the last few years without a corresponding reduction in employees.
As we look at our enrollment trends moving forward, we anticipate that enrollment will continue to decline for the foreseeable future.
In an effort to plan for the future and create responsible budgets that preserve programs and provide for consistent increases, the board is undertaking the task of doing long term financial planning. If you check out the presentation you can get an idea of our predictions for the future.
Obviously, short term predictions are more accurate than long term predictions. While there is still a lot that we don’t know, it looks like we will have another difficult budget season ahead of us.
Even if we supplement our revenue by using $1,900,000 of savings, we still anticipate having to cut about $2.5 million of expenses. The board will have difficult decisions ahead as they consider all possible ways to close the budget gap without cutting programs.
Thank you for reading this update. We encourage you to share this information with anyone who might be interested. We want all eligible voters to participate in the capital project vote and to be as fully informed as possible.
Best Wishes,
Stephen Gratto, Superintendent
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