NISKAYUNA — A Feb. 13 public referendum vote is set for a proposed $47 million capital project that would fund renovations at Van Antwerp Middle School and Niskayuna’s five elementary schools.
The referendum, advanced to a taxpayer vote by the Niskayuna Board of Education during its Dec. 12 meeting, would include $20.2 million in upgrades to Van Antwerp, including a cafeteria expansion, a renovated library and the conversion of the current district offices into classroom space. Under the district’s plans, its offices would relocate to commercial office space on Balltown Road.
District voters approved a pair of capital project referendums in February 2021 totaling $79 million that included renovation work to the outdoor athletic complex at Niskayuna High School and classroom renovations and parking improvements at Iroquois Middle School. That project was approved by voters after the district decided to reconfigure its middle school structure so that Van Antwerp would host grades 5-6 and Iroquois would house grades 7-8.
While the district began infrastructure improvements at Van Antwerp with funding from the prior capital project, it determined that, due to rising construction costs in the pandemic era, the remainder of the Van Antwerp rehab would need to be covered in an additional capital project.
The proposed capital project would have a tax-levy impact of 0.85% for Niskayuna taxpayers if approved, which would equate to an annual tax increase of approximately $42 for a home assessed at $300,000 in value.
The proposed referendum also includes $20.4 million in renovations to the district’s five elementary schools, including upgrades to gyms, cafeterias and library media centers across the five schools.
“It’s significant investments in the expansion and upgrade at VA [Van Antwerp], so that we’re really able to make that a world-class home for our grades five and six students,” Assistant Superintendent for Business and Operations Matthew Leon told the board during its Dec. 12 session. “The second component is updating and refreshing each elementary school, particularly focusing on the common areas like the cafeteria and the library, the gym, as well as playgrounds and some classroom refreshes.”
The proposal also features $1.5 million for the replacement and weatherproofing of the high school auditorium’s exterior wall.
The district convened a Capital Project 2024 Community Advisory Team in August to craft recommendations for the scope of the proposed project.
The group included district administrators and faculty, as well as 18 community members.
“We have had probably hundreds and hundreds of hours devoted to advancing the very best proposal we can for the community,” Superintendent Carl Mummenthey explained to the school board about the advisory team’s work.
The advisory team weighed three fiscal options for the project. The first project scope it considered would have had zero impact on Niskayuna taxpayers, would have scaled back the proposed work at Van Antwerp and eliminated the work at the district’s elementary schools.
The second scenario it studied would have kept the tax-levy impact at 0.5% or below, with that plan including less work at the elementary schools and no work at the high school.
The advisory team ultimately recommended the third option with renovations at the high school, all five elementary schools and Van Antwerp with a 0.85% tax impact.
State aid would cover 68% of the cost of the proposed capital project.
During the Dec. 12 meeting, the school board adopted a resolution declaring the district as the lead agency under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), with the district stating that the proposed project will not have a significant adverse impact upon the environment.
The public vote will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 13, with a snow date of Feb. 15.
“We looked in the Farmer’s Almanac and I think we’re okay,” Mummenthey joked during the school board meeting.