Springs Space Needs Considered

The Springs School District administration has decided that before it chooses to put up four temporary or other modular classrooms by the start of the next school year, as recently recommended by its facilities committee, it must take a number of steps.

During the Oct. 19 school board meeting, officials said choosing an architect from among those who responded to a request for proposals in June was primary. The district also has already spoken with a state education official, brought in a new construction consultant who worked for free, and formed two committees, one to review the results of the request for proposals and the other to solidify concepts and present them to the community.

While the facilities committee stopped short of recommending that the district issue bonds, as it appeared poised to do several weeks ago, the administration has said that a referendum will be necessary if the district chooses to tap into its $3.75 million capital reserve fund.

“The timeline for this approval of an architect is at about three weeks, so by the end of November, it should be ready for school board approval,” Carl Fraser, the district’s interim business administrator, said during the meeting. “Then, a concept committee can be formed to review with the architect what this design will look like. That, in turn, would be discussed and approved and presented to the public for their input. By December that concept committee should be able to come up with a recommendation. From there, we can set dates for a possible referendum to move this forward.”

The facilities committee had asked the district to explore whether there was a difference between temporary and other modular classrooms, and John J. Finello, the district superintendent, said there was really no functional difference between those options and permanent construction as it would pertain to Springs.

Those that are “built somewhere and transported to you, and can be removed at the end of your need” are technically portable, he said.  But he explained that “for us, because we’re looking to have these attached to the building, they become more permanent. They’re going to be on a foundation. Sewage, electric, all of that has to occur. The distinction here is that if we build them here, that isn’t going to be that much of a difference.”

Mr. Finello also said the four modular classrooms suggested by the facilities committee would not yield any net gain on space. “I think the intent was to take the four classes that were outside the building and take them inside. . . . It’s kind of holding right where you are,” he said.

But another reality loomed over the discussion: Regardless of how quickly the district puts together a plan, the State Education Department’s review of capital projects,  which is required, takes 42 to 44 weeks, according to a memo on its website published Tuesday. There are about 900 previous projects awaiting state review, among them a Sag Harbor School District project that was supposed to begin in the summer. That suggests Springs will not be able to install any modular classrooms next year, as the facilities committee had requested.

Mr. Finello said he was not aware of any way to cut that time down even as community members suggested the district should find a way to declare an emergency.

“The bridge is falling down and we don’t have time to go through the normal review process,” Don Cirillo, a Springs resident, said. “We would declare an emergency. Cut all the red tape because we don’t have time. This thing could collapse.”

Indeed, just a couple of weeks ago, a group of parents of second graders implored school officials to hire full-time teacher assistants for that grade, saying  class sizes were too big for one teacher to manage. On Oct. 19, Eric Casale, the Springs School principal, reported second-grade enrollment was up to 77 students, meaning two of the three second- grade sections had surpassed the threshold of 25 that the district has considered a cap.

Another serious consideration the district is facing is that the area where new modular classrooms are likely to be placed would be the same area where  a potential new permanent addition would be built. The only other alternative would be to locate any new modulars away from the main structure on top of one of the playing fields, which the facilities committee had said was not ideal.

In other action at the school board meeting, it was announced that the district has joined more than 70 others on Long Island in hiring an outside consultant to deal with the reporting requirements of the Affordable Care Act. The board approved a contract with the Seneca Consulting Group for $11,000 to help navigate what many school officials have said is a complex system that could incur monetary penalties if not handled correctly. The Seneca Consulting Group is the same firm recently hired by Amagansett, East Hampton, and Bridgehampton for similar tasks.

The interim business administrator said the district could face as much as $140,000 in penalties this year if the Internal Revenue Service determined it was not in compliance. Seneca was one of three firms chosen by the Eastern Suffolk Board of Cooperative Educational Services as appropriate to handle schools’ needs pertaining to the Affordable Care Act.