NEW ROCHELLE, NY — This article is Part 7 of 8 in a series on the June 23rd meeting of the New Rochelle Board of Education where administrators and board members discussed a plan to move the Alternative High School from St. Gabes High School to the Family Life Center at Bethesda Baptist Church. There were four subsequent board meetings – two in executive session and two in public session. This series is focused on what took place on June 23rd, an attempt to deceive the board and the public by cherry-picking or withholding information in order to “sell” Bethesda to a skeptical school board.
The 2015 Building Condition Survey listed $2,369,100 in Health and Safety, Structural and Other Work. This has been falsely represented by Thurnau, Feijoo, Marrero, Moselhi and Warhit as the amount of work required to bring St. Gabes “up to code”. That is not what those numbers mean in the BCSI as Thurnau knows full well as he designed the form when he ran NYSED Facilities.
Items marked with an “H” are Health and Safety issues, those with an “S” are Structural issues and those with no designation are other Work.:
H – Health and Safety ($1,153,600)
S – Structural ($221,350)
NONE – Other Work ($993,700)
The $1,153,600 for Health and Safety issues breaks down as
Replace/Upgrade/New: $43,100
Repairs of Existing: $430,500
Testing/Inspecting: $455,000
ADA: $875,450
There is no legal requirement to make ADA upgrades. Testing and inspecting while not a bad thing to do is a recommendation not a requirement. There is really only about half a million dollars in work that should be done to address health and safety issues described in the 2015 St. Gabes BCSI and some of that work was done, by the Archdiocese.
Not mentioned by Thurnau is whether any repairs or replacements or upgrades or new equipment was installed by the Archdiocese since April 2016.
The Archdiocese says they have fixed everything the District asked to be fixed: windows have been repaired, the roof was repaired, 3 sets of new doors with safety bars were added, safety outdoor security lights were added, the drain out onto Washington Avenue was repaired, a new oil tank and new piping/fitting and a new thermostat installed, the steam valve replaced. They say the boiler was installed in 2004 and is well within its expected useful life. It has been serviced and inspected. They say there were no issues during the 2019-20 school year and in 2018-19 school was closed for a part of one day because the heat was off for 2 hours.
None of this information was presented to the board. Instead they were told about an inspection of the building that was done about 5 years ago and the comparison was made between that inspection and the current state of Bethesda which is hardly an apples to apples comparison.
The only way to know for sure is to complete a BSCI for both locations — and any other location that might be considered as the location of the Campus School.
For the record, the entire 2015 BCSI for St. Gabes that breaks down as follows:
H – Health and Safety ($1,153,600)
- Water (H) $30,000 Expose service line, exercise all valves, backflow in basement
- Site Sanitary (H) $25,000 Video service lines
- Site Electrical, Including Exterior Distribution (H) $10,000 Provide new exterior lighting and controls
- Plumbing Drainage System (H) $11,000 Ongoing repairs to older piping
- Heat Generating Systems (H) $150,000 Replace old HB Smith 450 boiler
- Heating Fuel/Energy Systems (H) $6,000 Upgrade natural gas piping
- Air Handling and Ventilation Equipment: Supply Units, Exhaust Units, Relief/Return Units, etc. (H) $6,000 Replace toilet room exhaust fans
- Piped Heating and Cooling Distribution Systems: Piping, Pumps, Radiators, Convectors, traps, Insulation, etc. (H) $19,500 Ongoing repair of older piping
- Fire Alarm Systems (H) $3,500 Visual alarms missing
- Emergency/Exit Lighting Systems (H) $17,600 Replace exit signs and emergency lighting throughout
- ADA Exterior Route, Interior Route, Accessibility (H) $875,450
S – Structural ($221,350)
- Foundation (S) $0 Foundation spall with exposed rebar observed
- Structural Floors (S) $7,500 Structural analysis of beams where concrete has been chipped away should be performed
- Parapets $32,000 repointing, crack repair (S)
- Exterior Steps, Stairs, and Ramps (S) $5,750 repair handrail and treads
- Roof and Skylights $176,100 Replace flat section of roof
NONE – Other Work ($993,700)
- Closed Drainage Pipe Stormwater Management System $25,000 Perform video inspection of drain lines
- Pavement (Roadways and Parking Lots) $61,800 Repave southwest entrance up to back alley, replace curing outside southern wing and replace speed bumps
- Sidewalks $41,400 Replace asphalt sidewalk at southern wing, sidewalk at southern face of northern wing and replace sidewalk and driveway apron on Washington Avenue
- Exterior Wall/Columns $231,000 repointing, replace lintels
- Exterior Doors $45,000 upgrade doors and hardware
- Windows $414,000 replace windows
- Interior Doors $80,500 Upgrade doors and hardware
- Lighting Fixtures 50,000 Existing lighting is at the end of its expected life. Provide lighting controls as required by the energy conservation code
- Communications System $30,000 Replace existing obsolete PA system
- Water Distribution System $13,000 Ongoing repairs to older piping
- Cooling/Air Conditioning Generating Systems $2,000 Replace window A/C in computer room
Table of Contents
New Rochelle BOE Discussion on Relocation of Campus School Part I: Acrimony and Blame Shifting
New Rochelle BOE Discussion on Relocation of Campus School Part II: Proximity
New Rochelle BOE Discussion on Relocation of Campus School Part III: AP Courses
New Rochelle BOE Discussion on Relocation of Campus School Part IV: Security at St. Gabes
New Rochelle BOE Discussion on Relocation of Campus School Part V: St. Gabes Building Condition
New Rochelle BOE Discussion on Relocation of Campus School Part VI: Phony Photos and Contrived FAQ
New Rochelle BOE Discussion on Relocation of Campus School Part XIII: Remaining Questions
I am shocked by what I just read. The dishonesty between all the parties involved in making the decision to move and not first opening it up to health and safety and the community is disgraceful. I am a tax payer and I think a full and unbiased evaluation and search should have preceded any such move. It also is on professional and possibly unethical if personal relationships between BOE and church staff impacted on this decision; the 2 persons involved should both recuse themselves from the process. With the growing distrust of people in power in this country, with all the worry and uncertainty in understanding Covid19, we, New Rochelle residents need to be able to trust our school district and the BOE. What has occurred regarding Campus school, the secrets and misleading information, is unacceptable .