BC News

District ready to welcome students back to new spaces, improved buildings

Major decisions on the horizon for 2007-08

Release Date: Sept. 4, 2007

What a difference a summer of construction makes.

When students return to Bethlehem Central High School next week, they will notice a more welcoming main entrance, a larger cafeteria, an expanded chorus room, a new band room and a new student parking lot. At BC Middle School, a new orchestra room, renovated classrooms, and renovated locker rooms are ready for use. At Clarksville, students can now eat lunch and gather in a new cafetorium and read and work in a larger library/media center.

These are just a few of the facility improvements completed this summer under the district’s $93 million capital construction project, approved by voters in December 2003. Construction took place this summer at every school except for Slingerlands and Elsmere elementary schools, where various district and town summer programs were held. Construction is slated for these two schools next summer.

"The promise of the bond project was that every BC student would attend state-of-the art facilities that are safe, modern and suitable for the quality education takes place inside the buildings," Superintendent Les Loomis said. "With the opening of this school year, we continue to see that promise become a reality, and we are so excited to welcome our students back."

In mid-August, the steel frame of the district’s sixth elementary school, Eagle Elementary School, was in place, giving an indication of the major decisions that district leaders and the community will confront this year.

The anticipated opening of the new school in the fall of 2008 means that the district must redraw its elementary school boundaries to take effect at that time.

To begin this process, the district has asked its elementary PTAs to name four members to an Elementary Redistricting Committee. The committee will serve in an advisory role during the redistricting process to the Board of Education, which is expected to make a decision by the end of January 2008. The committee’s meetings will begin on Sept. 17, and will all be open to the public, whose participation is also encouraged.

The Board asked each PTA to name at least one parent with a child in preschool to the committee, and ensure that its representatives include residents of the various geographic neighborhoods or areas that will be affected by redistricting.

The committee will be supported by the district’s five elementary school principals, its Transportation Department and central office administrators. The process will be facilitated by redistricting consultant Doug Hamlin from VersaTrans, an organization with a long track record in assisting communities with these issues.

"Although we know that redistricting can be complicated and challenging, we are confident that we can undertake this process fairly and openly, with significant community involvement, and reach a conclusion that the Bethlehem Central community can support," Board President James Lytle said. "We recognize that elementary boundaries are part of the fabric of a community – they affect students, families and neighborhoods – and we encourage parents and community members to participate in the discussions."

The district will also begin planning this year to successfully implement full-day kindergarten in September 2009.

In order to accommodate the full-day kindergarten program, the district is planning to seek voter approval this fall to construct at no cost to local taxpayers additional classroom space at Eagle Elementary School. The referendum would not lead to any impact on district taxes because of $4.4 million that is available to Bethlehem Central through a state school construction program known as EXCEL. The funding is also expected to cover various projects that will lead to healthier and safer school environments and help avoid costs to taxpayers in the future.

The Board of Education will consider setting a date for this referendum, as well as specific projects that it would accomplish, at its Sept. 5 meeting.

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