by Andrew Henderson

Oswego County residents will have the opportunity to head to the polls again next week—this time to vote on Oswego County BOCES’ $48.4 million capital project, a project county school district superintendents say should be postponed in light of the current financial crisis facing the state and the country.

The vote, set for Wednesday, Nov. 12, will be held in all nine county school districts. Polls will be open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Residents are eligible to vote if they are U.S. citizens, at least 18 years old, and have legally been residents of the BOCES district for at least 30 days prior to the voting day.

The main building at BOCES, located in Mexico, was constructed 40 years ago and the special-education building was constructed in 1973. BOCES currently serves about 800 students in career and technical education and 1,200 special-education students.

The proposed renovation project includes additional 18 general-purpose classrooms intended to accommodate special-education classes transferring from another building and other closed locations as well as the reconfiguration of current space to keep student programs together, including the relocation of the heavy-equipment classroom to the main campus. Currently, that classroom is located across the street from the main building.

The proposed project also includes a new library and media center, a reconstructed cafeteria, and a new multi-purpose room. The plan would also focus on the main entry areas and improve vehicular and pedestrian traffic patterns. Also, the HVAC, electrical, plumbing, fire alarm, communication system, and security system would be updated under the plan.

Wednesday will not be the first time BOCES has held a referendum on a capital project.

“In 1980, they tried to have a renovation there and it failed,” noted BOCES Superintendent Dr. Joseph Camerino. “Since then they built all these wooden structures that sort of surround the main campus. Many of those wooden structures had a probable period use of about eight years. They are now pushing 20 to 30 years.

“Given that and where our program is going in the future, there has never been a renovation at BOCES since its inception,” he continued. “If you would teach this course in 2020, would the facility be conducive to learning? The response from the staff—they did an 18-month study—was, ‘No it wouldn’t’.”

Ninety percent of the $48.4 million price tag would be covered by state aid with the remaining 10 percent covered by $1.7 in existing capital funds and taxes levied on property owners throughout the county.

In the Fulton school district, the average annual local share is an estimated $135,963. An owner of a $75,000 home would pay $3.11 while an owner of a $150,000 home would pay $30.56.

In Hannibal, the local share is $50,653. An owner of a $75,000 home would pay $3.84 while an owner of a $150,000 home would pay $30.69. In Phoenix, the local share is estimated at $94,445. An owner of a $75,000 home would pay $4.13 while an owner of a $150,000 home would pay $25.17.

In Oswego, the estimated local share is $283,609. An owner of a $75,000 home would pay $2.73 while an owner of a $150,000 home would pay $32.13. In Mexico, the local share would be $122,965. An owner of a $75,000 home would pay $3.42 while an owner of a $150,000 home would pay $34.69.

The capital project, however, does not appear to have the support of county superintendents, at least now.

In a Oct. 3 letter to the Oswego County BOCES Board of Education, Marshall Marshall, Pulaski superintendent and president of the Oswego County School Superintendents’ Association, asked the BOCES board to consider postponing the vote.

“We understand, and fully support, the need for renovations and enhancements of the BOCES campus,” wrote Marshall. “However, we feel that it is not prudent to hold a vote on a proposition this November.

“There are several reasons for this,” he continued. “First, and foremost, is the current financial crisis in this state and nation. We have no idea as to what is in store for public schools in the very near future, but extremely difficult financial times seem obvious. Also, we have raised concerns about the impact of this project on our administrative budget caps in the case of contingency budgets.”

Marshall noted that state representatives are exploring options to minimize the impact to school districts’ budgets, but would not produce any remedies before Wednesday’s vote.

The school superintendents are also concerned about the recent enrollment decreases across the county.

“This year alone has seen enrollment declines up to 7 percent,” Marshall wrote. “This impacts district revenues, district shares of project costs, and the probable decline in enrolled students in the BOCES programs. At the same time, it creates opportunities that should be explored for the possible use of vacant classrooms or school buildings to house integrated special-education programs in lieu of new BOCES campus classrooms.

“The uncertainties about our financial futures, and our changing space and student needs, have us making this request for a postponement until such a time as the picture is clearer,” he continued. “We are well aware that the future is never predictable, but right now this unpredictability has never been worse.”

The Oswego County School Boards Association also appears to be in favor of postponing the vote because of “some major concerns.”

According to the association’s meeting minutes of Sept. 29, the capital project has to be funded under the state dormitory authority due to the debt ceiling placed on small-city school districts, such as the Fulton district.

Every district will have to fund its portion of the project in this manner. Hence, in the year that the project is first financed, a district’s total debt share will appear in its administrative budget, the minutes state.

“If the district was forced to adopt a contingency budget in that year, this loan amount could not be cut from the administrative budget,” the minutes state. “Districts would be unable to reach a contingency level without cutting many vital administrative positions. There is not an option on where the BOCES capital project appears in the district budget.”

According to the minutes, the majority of the association members present for the discussion decided that they would ask their boards to lobby their BOCES board members to put a hold on the capital-project vote until action is taken by the legislature on the funding.

Dr. Camerino said that the BOCES board of education took two to three hours deliberating the issues raised in the superintendents’ association’s letter.

“The board made a decision that we have gone five and a half years planning this and it would be difficult for us to suspend it indefinitely based upon a series of ‘what if’ scenarios,” he said. “It was their decision to continue with the vote.”

One retired BOCES teacher is also rallying against the proposal. Mike Noto, a 28-year auto-engines instructor, said the capital project should be voted down because of declining enrollment.

The number of career and technical education courses offered at BOCES has been reduced from 31 programs, when the new campus was proposed five years ago, to 23 programs at the present time, said Noto.

“The only income to the home school comes from state aid multiplied by the number of students attending,” said Noto. “The more students the home schools send to BOCES, the lower the cost per student. With the reduced number of course offerings, there is also reduced interest by students to attend BOCES.”

Noto is also concerned about the plan to transfer the heavy-equipment instruction site from across the street to the present carpentry program area on the main campus.

“Even though the number of students is down by almost 50 percent and the number of programs by 25 percent, Oswego County BOCES still has the same number of administrators as it did when there were 1,400 students and 31 programs,” he said. “With just one guidance councilor to cover nine school districts in Oswego County and many career choices being eliminated, it appears that the main priority of BOCES administrators is to protect their jobs and high salaries instead of serving the needs of the county’s students.”

Dr. Camerino is encouraging the public to vote on the project.

“We want the public to speak on the referendum,” he said. “They have the right to vote on it. The community has the right to express their opinions, but the board wanted to give that right to the voters. I think that is another reason why they kept the project out there.

“BOCES has been an important aspect to the community,” he continued. “It has provided job training for adults who have gone through the shut downs and changing of careers from the loss of Nestle, the Miller Brewery, and those companies like that. BOCES has a lot of aspects to it. It is more than just special education and career and technology. There is a lot of stuff that people don’t realize is happening at BOCES.”

The following are the voting sites in area school districts:

• Fulton City School District: Volney Elementary School and the Fulton War Memorial

• Hannibal Central School District: Hannibal High School

• Phoenix Central School District: John C. Birdlebough High School

• Oswego City School District: Frederick Leighton Elementary School and the Oswego Education Center.

• Mexico Academy Central School District: Mexico Elementary Schoo