From the Longwood Central School District’s press release:
March 1st Set for Informational Meeting on Energy, Maintenance & Technology Bond
MIDDLE ISLAND — The Longwood Board of Education will hold an informational meeting on a proposed energy conservation, facilities maintenance and technology maintenance project on Thurs., March 1 at 7 PM, at Longwood High School, 100 Longwood Rd., Middle Island.
The entire proposal is in keeping with the district’s annually updated five-year plan for facilities and technology maintenance. To avoid any impact on the tax rate, district officials will take advantage of a voter approved $4 million capital reserve fund, approximately 67% state building aid, the payback from the investment in energy efficiency, historically low interest rates, and the district’s outstanding credit rating.
Dubbed Go green; Invest in the Future, approximately half of the total $27,283,000 will be dedicated to energy conservation and is expected to save the district $1 million a year in energy costs.
The energy conservation measures include solar panels, window replacements, cogeneration (simultaneous production of heat and electricity using natural gas-powered engines), battery storage, a computerized energy management system, lighting upgrades, a district-wide wireless clock system and chillers for summer cooling.
New energy efficient 30-year roofs will replace older, deteriorating roofs at four elementary schools and the Longwood Middle School. The heating and ventilation system will be replaced at Charles E. Walters Elementary School.
Other maintenance projects proposed include repairs to deteriorating parking lots, the replacement of worn carpet at the Middle School and the elevator cab at the high school; and an upgrade of outdoor lighting and public address systems.
In replacing the high school track, it will be realigned to provide for the installation of a synthetic field for a multi-use athletic facility, (replacing the football field) to expand its use to the community and provide a playing field for a variety of sports, including football, lacrosse and soccer.
The technology maintenance proposal will provide critical changes to the infrastructure required to support technology in classrooms and school libraries, as well as administrative and business functions. Improvements to security and backups are important components of the plan.
The proposal provides for the replacement of seven older servers in the schools, all 2,000 instructional computers that are six years old and beyond warranties, as well as older administrative computers that are beyond warranties. The labor and parts for older computers, when available, are extremely expensive and once repaired, do not change the computers’ capacity for newer programs.
Monitors that are 10-12 years old will be replaced with energy efficient models that can handle the higher resolution required by the new computers and programs.
Voting will be held on Tues., March 6, from 7 AM to 9 PM, in the district’s four elementary schools.
The last day to register for the vote is Wed., Feb. 29, at 2 PM. Registration is held on business days at the District Clerk’s Office, between the hours of 8 AM and 3:30 PM., and at Central Office, between the hours of 8 AM and 4:30 PM. Both are located at 35 Yaphank Middle Island Rd., Middle Island. You may also register at the Student Registration office, located on the campus of the Charles E. Walters Elementary School, 15 Everett Drive, Yaphank, between the hours of 8 AM and 2:30 PM; or at any school in the district’s schools during school hours.
Voting is according to zip codes: Coram 11727, Medford 11763, and Mt. Sinai 11766 at Coram Elementary School, 61 Coram Mt. Sinai Rd., Coram; Middle Island 11953 and Miller Place 11764, at West Middle Island Elementary School, 30 Swezey Lane, Middle Island; Ridge 11961 or Shoreham 11786, at Ridge Elementary School, 105 Ridge Rd., Ridge; and Yaphank 11980, Shirley/East Yaphank 11967 and Upton 11973, at the Charles E. Walters Elementary School, Everett Dr., Yaphank.
For additional information, contact: Debra Winter, Assistant Superintendent for Student and Community Services and Myra Vaughn, Public Relations Director (631) 345-2949 Fax: (631) 345-2848 myra.vaughn@longwoodcsd.org