By John Nugent
The Roslyn Board of Education discussed a number of proposed school facility improvements including locker renovation and signs at its meeting Tuesday night.
The board intends to install new signs showing the name of each school at the entrances. Not yet decided is the exact design of each sign. However, the cost of $15,000 to $17,000 per sign aroused the concern of board members.
Board President Meryl Waxman Ben-Levy cited the importance of having attractive signs at facilities on district properties valued at more than a quarter of a billion dollars but was unwilling to support an expenditure that might cut funding from what she deemed necessary items like the science lab. Other board members agreed and called for additional proposals on the matter.
The board then addressed the issue of repairing and upgrading the high school locker rooms.
Superintendent Allison Brown noted the deteriorating condition of both boys and girls locker rooms and stated that both are very much in need of repair.
Ken Schupner of BBS Architects demonstrated his plan for new lockers and a redesign of the footprint in the locker room area. The plan calls for 608 lockers for the boys and 828 for the girls at a cost of $1,333,000. In addition, the bathroom and shower areas would be completely redone.
The question of cost then was raised by Joseph Dragone, the district’s assistant superintendent for business. Dragone stated that the current budget would not cover the total expense of this project. The board members then decided that the best solution would be to make the changes over a two-year period.
Also under consideration is the addition of new playground equipment at the primary schools.
In another action, the board recognized 130 Advanced Placement scholars by presenting them with certificates of achievement for their performance on the AP exams. All the students scored at least 3.0 on the exams. Some scored 4.0, which designated them as National AP Scholars. Ben-Levy congratulated them all, saying, “They are a point of great pride for our district.”
