Building Project to Be Put to Vote

By Dan Hust
GRAHAMSVILLE — June 13, 2000 -- Tri-Valley Central School District residents will be asked to head to the polls tomorrow to vote on the proposed $12.8 million building project at the school in Grahamsville.
According to school officials, the new building is needed to meet increasing student population, special education and graduation needs.
Between 2 and 9 p.m. tomorrow at the school, voters will decide whether or not they want to help pay for 15 new classrooms for music, science, special ed. and pre-K (eight new rooms in a high school addition and seven in a connecting building between the elementary and middle schools); a multipurpose high school auditorium available to the community; a gym; an expansion of the existing cafeteria; two soccer fields; a security camera system; renovations to the boys’ lockerroom; and an elevator in the elementary school.
The estimated tax impact on residents varies from township to township, but, as an example, a Town of Fallsburg taxpayer with a home assessed at $100,000 would pay an extra $69.42 a year for the new building (not counting any reductions incurred from the STAR Program).
In a student-created website, the school presented material urging voters to approve the project, citing the largest student population ever at Tri-Valley (1,270) and the expected increase of 200 more in the next decade as reasons to vote for the proposal.
Other reasons listed included new graduation requirements, the desire to have a distance learning lab, universal Pre-K, handicap accessibility, the return of special ed. students from BOCES to the school itself, allowing adequate separate space for both 7-8th and 9-12th graders, and the fact that the state is offering an extra 10 percent of aid for any projects passed before the end of this month.
Officials also pointed out that rising construction costs and reduced state aid will increase the overall tax impact of the project if it is not approved now.
“It’s a project that the timing’s right to do,” said Superintendent George Vanderzell yesterday. “I believe the people in the community will realize that. They know a good deal when they see it.”
For more information, contact the school at 985-2296.