Monroe-Woodbury $115 million capital project comes to vote Tuesday

Monroe-Woodbury Central School District will be holding a vote at its Education Center on December 6 for a $115 million proposed capital program, which, if approved by residents, will go towards fixing the district’s infrastructure issues, aging facilities and other improvements.

The program aims to restore the district’s seven schools and upgrade many of their assets. A few of the many changes include boiler replacements, new fire alarm systems, additional parking lot lighting, a new athletic field facility and outdoor learning spaces for the elementary schools.

“The majority of work I would characterize as “need to have” rather than “nice to have” items...it’s really about making an investment in our facilities, to preserve and maintain the schools for the current generation of MW kids and families and future generations,” said Patrick Cahill, Assistant Superintendent for Business and Mangement Services.

Plans for the program began over five years ago during the district’s building condition survey, highlighting its rougher spots and prompting preparation. Save for some smaller scale ones, this capital program is one of Monroe-Woodbury’s largest projects in years.

“It’s been decades probably since we’ve done anything like this, and that’s one of the reasons that we have to do this,” Cahill said.

Funding for the program will come from capital reserves, short and long-term borrowing, debt service fund reserves, and building aid from the New York State Education Department. If approved, the district’s first-year budget will increase by $197,000 and grow accordingly with the project. The time frame, however, would still need to be determined.

“We as a school district have to, to some degree, work around the school schedule and do a lot of this work in the summer,” Cahill said, noting that, “if the stars align,” the program could initiate this summer of 2023, likely starting with repairing roofs or upgrading fire alarms.

Whether this goes through or not will be decided by the residents; they will be given the opportunity to vote on December 6 between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. at the district’s Education Center at 278 NY-32, Central Valley. Additionally, a “Crusader Chat” featuring program-related discussion will be held on December 1 at 7 p.m. at the Monroe-Woodbury High School and live-streamed on Youtube.