Pine Bush school board members learned the scope of two major initiatives – one for instruction and other for building upgrades – on Tuesday night.

The building upgrades haven’t yet been designed, but could include improvements at the main high school athletic field, including new seating and locker rooms. Chris Ladayni of CPI Architects followed Hopmayer’s presentation, laying out proposed capital improvements to the district’s seven schools. The needed improvements turned up during a periodic building condition survey focused on aging, outdated or energy inefficient infrastructure and “issues related to health & safety.”

Addressing everything on the list would cost $121.7 million, Ladayni said. But the district’s facilities committee has developed a priority list designed to help determine what work ought to be done as soon as possible and what can be put off. The result are priority lists of jobs categorized under Proposition 1 ($50 million) and nice-to-have jobs under Proposition 2 ($26 million) for a total of $76 million.

The projects, which would involve financing, will be put to the district’s voters, and Proposition 2 depends on Proposition 1 passing.

Joseph Lenz, the assistant superintendent for business, said the approval of Proposition 1 would not involve any additional cost to taxpayers. That’s because the district will soon retire previous financing expenses and the new bonding would simply take the place of the old financing costs. Any difference would be made up by taping an existing capital improvements fund. Should Proposition 2 pass, the owner of a house valued at $500,000, for instance, would pay about $80 more a year in taxes, Lenz said.

All the work at the high school would cost $29 million, and all the work at Circleville Middle School would cost $18.4 million, the two most expensive building renovation projects.

At the high school, however, most of the $13.7 million to be spent in Proposition 2 involves building new expanded bleachers at the high school football field, a new press box, and a concession stand and locker rooms and bathrooms under the new bleachers.

Using EJ Russell Elementary School as an example, Proposition 1 includes fire alarm upgrades, roof restoration, window replacement, HVAC improvements, and ceiling replacement. The work would cost $4.4 million. Under Proposition 2, a new electronic school sign, air-conditioning in the cafeteria and gym, and a new scoreboard and paint for the gym. Those projects would add $1.8 million to the EJR tab.

In 2019, the last time voters were asked to approve capital improvement projects, they said yes to spending $44.8 million on building upgrades and no to spending $9.1 million on athletic and recreational projects.

Later, in March 2023, thanks to an infusion of federal dollars, the school board voted to spend $6.1 million on new artificial turf for two fields at the high school and $855,222 on floodlights to illuminate them.

Preparing for Real Life

An entirely new Career and Technical Education program in business has been greenlit, and the board explained the details on Tuesday. The CTE business program is designed to create a new pathway to a diploma as the State Education Department moves away from the Regents exam system that has existed in one form or another for graduating students since 1878.

The new program has been under development for more than a year, said Aaron Hopmayer, principal of Pine Bush High School and head of the business department. The school board was quick to act because details of the hundred-page-long program have to be submitted to the state by October 1 in order to meet the deadline for the 2025-26 school year. All the classes would be offered in-house so no additional bus transportation would be needed, Hopmayer said.

In the new CTE program, students would be able to study financial and career management, accounting, college business math and college financial accounting. Certification would be awarded for Microsoft Excel specialist, precision accounting, student portfolio.

The work-based learning program include school-based enterprise and internships. School-based enterprise would involve management, accounting, marketing, operations, design and customer service. The work-based learning would include internships overseen by certified coordinators, student placements with local businesses and mentors to guide their integration into the business world.

Pine Bush has always looked out for students who weren’t necessarily on their way to college, Hopmayer said. And although the CTE business program is open to college-bound students, it aims to prepare students going straight to work or perhaps choosing to enlist in the armed services. The district’s CTE program in advanced manufacturing is already preparing students for that industry. The business program will expand the offerings.

The subtitle of Hopmayer’s presentation sums up the philosophy: “Qualified for the Real World.”