There is an urgent need to renovate the Niagara Falls schools before the wear and tear on the facilities overtakes the district’s ability to keep up and creates an intolerable situation for students and teachers.

That’s the reality facing school leaders as they work to make their case for passage of the scaled-down capital projects referendum scheduled for a vote on Sept. 25th. Last year, a $130 million referendum failed to gain enough voter support for approval even though the entire cost would have been covered by the state.

The new referendum that covers essential repairs and renovations totals $65 million, also reimbursable in full by the state, and is seen as the last opportunity for voters to get the state to pay for the repairs and avoid footing the bill for the school work themselves through increased property taxes because the work must be done.

David Spacone, assistant supervisor for operations management for the district, says all 11 campuses are in need of some renovations, from roof replacement at LaSalle Prep School to new ceilings at the Kalfas Magnet School. Spacone says the time to act is now before the district is overwhelmed by the deterioration.

Who’s to pay? With 491 capital improvement repairs needed in 11 schools, local voters decide on Sept. 25 whether they want state aid to pay for it (vote yes) or  pay locally in the form of increased taxes (vote no). At Maple Elementary (above) old steam pipes need to be replaced to properly heat classrooms.	Henry F. Abate Elementary School has a decades-old coal/gas boiler. The Sep 25th referendum, if it passes, will see the State paying 100% of replacing this inefficiently poor-heating system with a new fuel-efficient system. A no vote means instead of the state paying, local taxpayers will foot the bill for this and other capital improvements.	For long term benefit, the roof at LaSalle Prep. clearly needs to be replaced instead of repeated patching. This is a needed repair.

“We need to get back to the preventative aspect of maintenance instead of reacting to emergencies and breakdowns,” said Spacone during a tinterview with the Niagara Falls Reporter. “A lot of these items are at the end of their useful life. They have been maintained as well as they could be maintained with the budgets we have had to work with, but as Supt. Cynthia Bianco said, you get to the point where things have to be replaced and you start the cycle all over again.”

A super majority of voters (60%) are needed to pass the scaled-down version of the capital projects budget and get the state money which is reimbursed after the district sells bonds to do the work.

Supt. Biano compares the need to fix the schools to maintaining a home, saying “I’ve been in my home 45 years and I am still spending money on it. You think you put a roof on your home and that is it. No, probably 20 years later you have to put another one on.” She said the same thing is true with maintaining the schools.

Earl Smeal, energy manager and assistant capital projects manager for the district, and Mark Laurrie, chief educational administrator, both told the Reporter that a number of big ticket items are necessary to keep the schools operating safely and efficiently.

Smeal said at the Abbott Elementary School, the antiquated heating system is costing money in labor and maintenance in the effort to keep kids and teachers warm and that, if approved in the referendum, “the state will fund the replacement of the old units with energy-efficient ones that will reduce utility costs and make students more comfortable.”

Laurrie noted that fixing the schools will put people to work, “and God knows we need people to work in this area. Secondly, it is about equity for kids. We should be showcasing Niagara Falls as a city, we should be proud of it and our schools are at the center of it.”

Supt. Bianco said all she is asking is for our taxpayers to be responsible voters, “to really make a point of listening to the information that is being put out there, the correct information, and to ask questions if they have them. It’s a win-win situation if everyone understands. My hope is they will vote ‘yes’ because they understand it and see it as a benefit to them as citizens of Niagara Falls, a taxpayer, and perhaps the parent of a child in school.”