The Montauk School District and its longtime architect, John Tanzi, are parting ways amicably as the district seeks a firm specializing in school architecture, according to Joshua Odom, Montauk’s superintendent. The school board voted in October to end the contract.
What was previously a plan to replace only the decades-old “portables” — the modular classrooms at the back of the school — at an estimated cost of about $2.4 million is now evolving into something more complex, Mr. Odom said Tuesday. Mechanical repairs, heating and ventilation upgrades, and other improvements are now being explored.
Coupled with the issues is the fact that bids for the classroom-replacement project came in much higher than anticipated, said Mr. Odom, who stepped into the district in July with the capital project already underway.
“If we’re going to spend this kind of money for the community, we want it to be spent in the most responsible way possible,” he said.