NEW ROCHELLE, NY — District officials overseeing the $106.5 capital construction projects updated the Board of Education and the school community last week on the status during a recent school board meeting.
With Phase I of the project complete, Jeff White, assistant superintendent for business, informed the board that design work for approximately $45 million worth of repairs to buildings in Phase II has been completed, and that these have been translated into documents to facilitate competitive bidding. Phase II of the project focuses on New Rochelle High School, Isaac E. Young Middle School and Jefferson Elementary School.
The district is currently out to bid with 19 prime contracts and is expecting as many as 40 bids to come in by May 8. State Education Department filings for building permits are on schedule.
“We have assembled a team of world-class construction professionals who are overseeing these critically important capital construction projects,” White explained after the meeting. “Their experience and talent will ensure these projects are completed on time and with the highest quality of materials and workmanship within budget, because we clearly know and recognize we are using the public’s money.”
School board members also received an update on the financing structure of the project and the upgrades that will be made to the playgrounds at Columbus, Jefferson, Webster, Barnard and Trinity elementary schools.
While Phase I of the project cost $5 million and included restoration work at Barnard Elementary and Webster Elementary, Phase III will focus on work at Albert Leonard Middle School and IEYMS, as well as Trinity, Columbus and Jefferson elementary schools. It will cost $29 million. Design work for Phase III has already begun.
Design work for Phase IV, which will include $26 million worth of work at Barnard, Davis, Ward and Webster elementary schools, will begin in April 2018. The expected completion is in the 2019-2020 school year.
Funds for the construction project work were approved in May 2016 by New Rochelle voters to fund urgent infrastructure restorations to aging school buildings. The planned upgrades, decided upon after consultation with architects, engineers, construction and finance professionals, custodians, parents and teachers, comprise both infrastructure and restoration work. Some capital projects funding from the budget will also be used for the upgrades.