Pride runs deep in Eldred, but is it enough to save the school?

Residents and district superintendent explore the options

By LISA CUTRONI

ELDRED, NY — Ten million is the “guesstimated” cost to make necessary repairs to Eldred’s junior and senior high schools, said Eldred Central School (ECS) District Superintendent Dr. Ivan Katz at a school board meeting held December 8. Whether or not taxpayers are willing to pass a referendum calling for a 20-year bond, with annual payments of $750,000, is anyone’s guess.

“You can cut out all the paper clips and pencils and software you can, you still won’t see that kind of number,” Katz said.

First off, Katz said the 2006-2007 budget would increase from $12,452,853 to $14,320,780, or 15 percent, from last year. Then, in order to make the annual bond payments, the $750,000 would have to be reduced from the budget to make the bond payments.

To see that reduction, Katz said, 20 or more positions would have to be cut, programs (curricular and co-curricular) would have to be limited, and the purchasing of textbooks, classroom equipment and the like would cease.

But, the over-60-year-old building would remain open.

Katz offered residents an additional option: tuitioning out the over 300 junior and high school students to area districts such as Sullivan West, Monticello or Port Jervis. But in the long run, as one resident pointed out, sending students to other districts and closing the building would cost more than making needed repairs over the course of two summers.

According to Katz, education at ECS comes with a $4,667,270 price tag. The total cost for tuitioning students to Port Jervis is $4,909,305; to Monticello, $5,866,709; and to Sullivan West, $5,132,550. This does not, he said, take into consideration the additional costs of special education needs or the costs of closing the building. Also, tuitioning out costs would increase as more students entered the ECS district.

But, if repairs started with the 2006-2007 budget, the project could be done by 2010 and, Katz said, the repairs would last into the future. “I think it is prudent to move ahead,” he said.

One reason for an expedient attitude is the rising costs of construction. “The cost of building projects has skyrocketed,” said Katz.

Katz reminded residents that all the figures bouncing around were merely speculation “based on meager information,” and that “last year’s preliminary budget started off with a 21-percent increase.”

“A budget, at times, is nothing more than a best guess,” Katz said.

Within the next week, Katz will meet with architects to discuss findings in the building conditions survey, an evaluation performed every five years to determine what architectural areas of the school buildings need attention. At that point, more accurate figures will be created.

To offset costs, the Parent Teacher Student Organization (PTSO) asked to hold two or three bingo nights a year in the junior/senior high school gymnasium, as a way “to rally around our children and school,” a PTSO representative said. It was projected that such events could raise $1,500 a night.

That proposal was met with argument, chiefly from ECS board president Vincent Zike. Zike said that gambling—even a legalized form of gambling such as bingo—had no place in school; he did, however, add a word of appreciation to the PTSO for considering the plight of the school.

“What can the community do, then?” an ECS student asked the board.

Zike didn’t have an answer; he did, however, ask Katz to prepare a presentation showing both the benefits and detriments of allowing bingo in ECS.

That presentation, along with additional information on repairs, will be addressed at the next board of education meeting on January 12, 2006.