District seeks voter approval for fully-funded School 2 project; No tax impact

UPDATE: Voters approve School 2 Community Schools Capital Project.  Official vote tallies are as follows: 335 (Yes), 66 (No). Learn more. 

Official Vote Tally 

On January 23, 2018 the Troy City School District community will vote on a proposition to authorize a fully-funded Capital Project at School 2 as part of the New York State Community Schools Grant Initiative. The proposal will have no additional impact on taxpayers.

At its December 6 meeting, the Board of Education voted unanimously in favor of holding a special public vote on a project that would enhance the capability of School 2 to provide community services that directly benefit its students and the larger Troy community.

Community Schools like School 2 are meant to not only provide a quality education to every student, but also to serve as a hub for varied support services for both children and their families. Preliminary designs for the project include the renovation of existing space to provide a Health, Community and Social-Emotional Wing, allowing for private areas for health services, family services and consultation.

“We know that when families have the services they need to be healthy and supported, academic achievement improves for our students, both on the elementary level and as they move on to our secondary schools and beyond,” said Superintendent John Carmello. “This is an excellent opportunity for the entire District to come together to vote on a Capital Project that will strengthen the critical foundation of School 2 students, and benefit the larger Troy community at no additional cost to taxpayers.”

This fall, Troy CSD was awarded a total of $550,896 for School 2 through the Community Schools Grant. Of that, $362,572 is allocated for academic programming and the other $188,324 is for capital improvements.

The District will utilize the $188,324 to completely offset the local share of a Capital Project. This, combined with a District Aid Ratio of 87.9 percent, allows for a fully funded Capital Project of approximately $1.2 million, with no additional impact on tax payers.

The grant period is for the 2017-2018 school year. The District is seeking to begin construction in summer of 2018 in order to fully maximize the resources from both the grant and New York State Education Department (NYSED).

“After several months of clarification meetings with NYSED, it was determined that the District could in fact use the Community Schools Grant to fund the local share of a Capital Project. This allows us to turn what would be a minor project into something that could have a significant impact on the lives of our School 2 students and their families,” said Carmello. “The resources are available for the District to take advantage of, but we need to act quickly.”

District and School 2 leadership are working with Hamlin Design Group, an architecture firm that specializes in K-12 educational planning with experience in community school projects.

The District will hold several public meetings regarding the proposal throughout the month of December and January, including a presentation at the December 20 Board of Education meeting at School 2 as well as the January 17 Board of Education meeting at School 18.