Niskayuna committee details year-end investments: paving, bus tablets, door alarms, athletics gear

The Niskayuna Central School District Finance Committee heard a follow-up report May 16 on possible year-end investments the district would make if fiscal-year surplus funds are available.

Staff outlined a set of one-time projects that district leaders say were discussed earlier in the year but excluded from the operating budget; they said they would recommend specific procurements to the full board this month.

The district's staff member presenting the report said the first recommended investment is districtwide paving work, a third consecutive year of spring/early-summer paving. "We solicited bids. They were due on April 30, and we expect to move forward with a recommendation, at the board meeting on May 27," the presenter said, adding the estimate is about $250,000. The base bid covers identified work at most campuses; the presenter said Iroquois and Rosendale had paving done through the capital project and are in better condition. The bid includes unit prices so staff can add work "per additional 1,000 square feet" if contractors identify further repairs once mobilized.

On transportation technology, staff described a planned purchase of tablets running turn-by-turn directions and attendance features. "Our transportation director, Rich Kirk, director of IT, Gus Gardel, and I, recently, did a demo" with a Transfinder system, the presenter said, and staff plan to pilot on summer routes if possible and phase in more routes during the next school year. Committee member Libby said the automated attendance feature "seems like such a great addition" to safety and operations; the presenter noted the system can show which students have boarded a bus in real time, which is helpful in emergencies.

Staff also described lower-cost, geo-based parent alerts tied to bus location that IT is evaluating; the presenter said those alerts would likely cost under $10,000 but must be checked for interoperability with other district systems.

Security and door hardware were a further focus. Staff said the work responds to the district's independent security review (the "Alteris report") and that teams walked every campus to identify exterior doors and the appropriate response: badge access where feasible, door-open alerts routed to principals and safety staff if a door remains open beyond a set time, and audible classroom-door alarms in many learning spaces. "The order has been placed for everything except for the audible ones," the presenter said, and staff expect to begin installations this summer with completion in the fall.

Athletic and activity equipment purchases include a portable football goal post for Iroquois, new pool starting blocks, shot clocks for sports now requiring them, and replacement panels for scoreboards. Staff said the athletics equipment requests totaled about $64,000 during the budget process, and several items were procured now to have them ready for fall seasons.

Other technology and facilities work described as either ordered or planned over the summer included: cloud migration of Cisco phones, a security-camera server replacement because the existing server is nearing seven years of service and becoming less reliable, electronic marquee signs at Balltown Road and Knox Street, robotics equipment for engineering/technology classes, and replacement of silver logos on athletic turf and scoreboards.

Staff said some larger renovation items — such as replacement of the wrestling room floor and planned high-school gym rehabilitation — are being handled in the district's capital project work rather than as operating-year purchases. The presenter said the wrestling mat replacements were delayed until the underlying floor issues were addressed and that bids for the Blatnik gym and wrestling-room work have been issued.

No committee vote was taken on the presentation. Staff said many items already have purchase orders placed or bids solicited and that formal recommendations will come to the full board for approvals where required by procurement rules.

The presenter closed by asking whether the committee was comfortable with the approach of bringing a draft list of possible investments early in the budget calendar and then reporting back at year end; committee members supported repeating the process next year.