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Superintendent updates board on $52M high school project, start-time committee and district initiatives
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Theis updated the board on the high school capital project schedule, site-work planning for phase 5, new electronic message boards, the school start-time committee's work on slide/flip options and near-term district initiatives including hosting Tri-State Consortium training.
Superintendent Craig J. Theis updated the Fayetteville-Manlius Board on several district initiatives at the Oct. 6 meeting, including the status of a $52 million high-school capital improvement project, the school start-time committee, and district planning activities.
Theis said construction on the high school project continues with an estimated 14–15 months to completion. Work is progressing on first-floor renovations before contractors move to the second floor; the facilities committee will prepare bid packages this winter for phase 5 site work (planned during the 2026 construction window) and a 2025 capital transfer project at the bus garage. Theis noted some items remain beyond the scope of the current project and emphasized that further work at the high school and other buildings will be needed in future projects.
Theis also reported that grant funding from New York Assemblyman Al Stirpi’s office supported installation of four electronic message boards at FM High School, Eagle Hill, Lander, Wellwood, Fayol and Mott Road (installation completed in time for the school year), which the district will use to enhance communications and safety messaging.
On school start times, Theis said the district’s start-time committee — which includes students and families — met in September and will continue to examine “slide,” “flip” and combined approaches for possible implementation in the 2026–27 school year. A scheduling consultant, Elliott Marenblum, is assisting the committee to weigh advantages and limitations of each option; Theis said the district aims to give as much advance notice as possible and is targeting a decision by Thanksgiving.
Theis described curriculum and strategic-plan work underway, including a portrait-of-a-learner framework shared in the board packet, participation in the Tri-State Consortium (FM will host inaugural on-site training for the consortium later this month) and ongoing conversations about a possible capital referendum timed to resets in the state’s maximum-cost-allowance calculations.
Theis closed by thanking staff and noting the district will provide more detail on building action plans and scheduling as committee work progresses.
