Wantagh superintendent reports major HVAC and construction work, expands high-school cell-phone policy; Beach Street property on market
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Summary
Superintendent McNamara told the Board of Education the district completed electrical upgrades and is installing HVAC across five buildings, renovated bathrooms and a high-school cafeteria, will expand a cell-phone ban at the high school, and is exploring sale of the Beach Street property; field-lighting plans remain on hold.
Superintendent McNamara told the Wantagh Union Free School District Board of Education the district completed significant electrical upgrades and is installing new heating, ventilation and air-conditioning equipment across five buildings as part of ongoing bond work.
The work included "significant electrical upgrades across all 5 of our buildings in preparation for our new HVAC work," McNamara said, and "all new unit ventilators are installed." He said the district is finishing tie-ins this week and expects buildings to be ready for the first day of school on Sept. 2.
The upgrades are part of multiple summer projects, the superintendent said. The district renovated 16 bathrooms at Forest Lake Elementary School, replaced the main roof section at Wantagh Elementary School and completed a full cafeteria renovation at Wantagh High School, a project McNamara said took about eight weeks. Kitchen serving-line renovations were also under way at the three elementary schools.
"A huge thank you this year to our facility staff," McNamara said, singling out Rob Lovergene for coordinating contractors. He said the projects stem from bond work authorized in prior years and that the district was "busy getting ready" for the new school year.
On student-device rules, McNamara said the district will expand a New York State cell-phone ban already in place in kindergarten through eighth grade to Wantagh High School. "All of our students will be storing their cell phones in their lockers during the school day," McNamara said; Dr. Gazzone, the high school principal, has a letter scheduled to go to families next week announcing the change.
McNamara also provided an update on the district-owned Beach Street property, saying the district is "currently in the process of exploring selling that property" and has placed it on the market with a realtor. He said that if the district moves toward a sale, the disposition would be put to a voter referendum "where the voters would then vote on the sale of that building." The superintendent said the district will provide further community updates as the process continues.
Plans to add field lights at Wantagh High School remain on hold, McNamara said. "We have not... moved that any further than where we were last time we left off. It's still kind of on hold," he said.
McNamara welcomed two recent hires: Steve Guarini, the district's new assistant director for business, who joins the district from West Hempstead, and Rich Apollo, a new teacher at Forest Lake who previously worked at Island Trees.
The district presented these items as information during the superintendent's report; no formal board action on the listed projects or the Beach Street property sale occurred during the report beyond scheduling future updates.
